Time to listen

Research by the RSC, Tate and The University of Nottingham (Time to Listen, 2018) canvassed the opinions of 5,500 young people about why the arts matter to them. The answer was clear: young people value the arts as an outlet for emotions, nurturing new ideas and getting a better understanding of themselves and the world around them. 

Despite this clear emotional connection, the arts are too often sidelined. There has been a 47% decline in arts entries at GCSE between 2010 and 2023 and the Cultural Learning Alliance has demonstrated that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds have less access to the arts than their more affluent peers.

These statistics not only show the need for change but underline socio-economic divides. As access to the arts in schools drops, another obstacle is placed between disadvantaged young people and all the benefits an arts-rich education offers. 

The government estimates that the creative industries contributed £126bn to the UK economy in 2022. But who will drive the creative industries and their profits in the future? It will be the next generation.

Ashton Griffiths writes 

Through the RSC’s Youth Advisory Board (YAB), I have been given a platform to speak up about a range of issues that are important to me. I have seen first-hand how that can make a difference.

One of YAB’s first achievements was to suggest new ways of engaging with young people and reducing financial barriers to improve access to theatre. We took our suggestions to the RSC’s chair and wider board, including our idea of partnering with a platform like TikTok, one of the most widely used apps by young people globally. The resulting £10 TikTok Ticket Scheme was born, allowing students aged 14-25 to see RSC shows for £10.  

Sayana and I first met at Silhouette Youth Theatre in Northampton, where we started working with the RSC, joining its Shakespeare Ambassadors programme. There are now over 400 Shakespeare Ambassadors in schools across the country who lead and advocate for the arts in their own school communities. Many other theatres and arts organisations run similar schemes and have talent development programmes aimed at encouraging underrepresented groups of young people to see if a career in theatre might be for them. 

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Ashton performing with the RSC’s Next Generation Act company. Photo Sara Beaumont ©RSC

Alongside being on the YAB, for  the last year I have also been a member of the RSC’s young company – Next Generation Act – a conduit for young people from across the UK to come together and experience being part of a professional acting company. In that time, as well as being part of a large company, I’ve learned how to use theatre and the arts to interrogate current issues in our world. It’s one example of why access to arts opportunities is important – not just for ourselves as a means of creative expression but to shine a light on what’s going on in the world around us. 

Sayana Backer writes 

Ashton and I joined the RSC’s YAB in 2020 and it has been a privilege to witness how we have changed and held accountable an organisation that has such a long history of making work. My time as co-chair has led me to consider a career in current affairs, a field in which – like theatre – people of colour are underrepresented because these careers are viewed as simply not meant for us. Being part of the YAB and mobilising these young people’s work has inspired me and increased my understanding of just how important our voices are.

A particular highlight was the first RSC Young Creatives Convention in 2023, when 400 young people came together to call for space for our voices in the performing arts. By raising awareness of the financial and geographical barriers we face and the difficulties of accessing career opportunities, the YAB facilitated a nationwide call to action that simply couldn’t be ignored. Officials from the Department of Education attended the convention and, as a result, held workshops about the future of cultural education in schools. It was a huge privilege to be part of that conversation. It was also encouraging to see the government recognise the need to listen to young people’s perspectives. 

We joined forces with the Royal Court Theatre’s Young Agitators to lobby major exam boards about the importance of representation and increasing diversity of set texts studied GCSE. That led to new texts – like The Empress by Tanika Gupta – being added to the syllabus and improvements in resources to support teachers unfamiliar with embracing new texts. It was a project close to the hearts of our diverse collective and ensured that future will be able to identify and see themselves in texts they study. 

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Sayana at the RSC’s Young Creatives Convention 2023. Sara Beaumont ©RSC

Most recently, we have begun work with other theatres – including Chichester Festival Theatre and the Almeida – to build a National Youth Advisory Board. Increasingly, we’ve understood the combined influence we could have working with other young theatre collectives, especially in communities where we don’t yet have representation.

The decentralisation of cultural activities is another focus. By bringing young people from all over the country together, we can ensure more opportunities are harnessed and maximised everywhere, not just focused on areas like London that are already culturally rich. Ultimately, we want to create a unified, accessible network that empowers young voices and gives them a say in deciding the role of the arts in young people’s futures.

The arts and theatre are about reflecting human experience while simultaneously calling out injustice. Young people face a more uncertain future than ever, so ensuring we hold each other and older generations accountable is incredibly important.