Involving young people in Youth Theatre and in drama is one of the most important things in the performing arts movement today. How do we get the next generation involved in theatre? Kitchen Sink Live have a unique and empowering model of engagement with young people which puts them at the centre of the process. For those of us who grew up in the 1960s and saw kitchen sink dramas on the television we were seeing, for the first time ever, northern working-class life portrayed with shocking reality. We were watching our own lives on the telly! For young, working class writers and actors this was a sign that we too could be produce meaningful drama. 

Kitchen Sink Live is doing that today with issues-led drama devised by young people who are encouraged to share their own stories. They are given a voice and the confidence to tell their own stories in a safe space of workshops with their peers. Instead of being given a role and lines to learn, the young people create the stories and control the process. The young people choose the story-line, develop the characters and write the script. The group’s founders, Abby Melia and Bradley Thompson, have the energy, passion and drive to guide them in this work.

They use their own experience of being young people, without university or drama school backgrounds, wanting to break into performing arts and they want to spread the method of empowerment and co-production throughout the performing arts industry. The group is passionate about using drama to help improve the mental health of young people, particularly those not going down the uni route and those who are hard to reach including young people with learning disabilities. Many young people have used the opportunity to communicate their views to their families through the media of drama.

As well as helping young people to improve their confidence, communication and wellbeing, the group’s programme is often a spring-board for getting into theatre, often developing monologues for auditions.

The group’s current plans include producing a new stage drama on the topic of domestic abuse and helping young people facing exclusion to develop short films about their lives. Kitchen Sink Live is now at that crucial stage of organisational development of looking to expand it’s team. Here they speak openly to Caitlin and myself about their background, their ethos and their aspirations for the future.

Words by Bob Towers
Images by Andrew Smith