You’re Fried: the Realities of Youth Employment Inspire Legislative Theatre Event: 24 March 2025
- Sonia Bussu
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Fifteen young people from across the West Midlands and very diverse backgrounds came together in February to explore and reflect on their experience of accessing support on career choices and useful employment opportunities. Through legislative theatre they reflected together on structural barriers and collective agency.
They created this play to share with their communities and policymakers their perspective. This was the starting point to co-create policy change at the event on 24th March 2025, in Birmingham, with the support of the audience of spect-actors and the commitment of the policymakers in the room. The young people/ cocreators are Asmaa, David, Ellie, Maddie, Miracle, Hollie, Josh, Justyna, Liam, Leo, Kye, Nico, Priscilla, Tayesha, Zahra
Their play, based on their collective experience, is called “You’re Fried! The Realities of Youth Employment”.The title is a play on words, relating to insecure or low-paid work often open to young people. Scenes delve into poor advice and career support offered in education settings; a lack of work experience opportunities; and intersectional exclusions based on gender, race and class. The dismissiveness young people can experience within educational settings, from employers and in the family hugely impacts their confidence and self-worth.
The Inspire team led by Dr Sonia Bussu partnered with the Young Combined Authority, who agreed the focus of the play on youth employment, as one of their main priorities, and the youth organisation Youth Focus West Midlands, with the aim to embed this work in the young people’s local context. The 15 young people were recruited through local youth organisations and schools from across the West Midlands. They participated in a legislative theatre process led by legislative theatre practitioners Sam Dixon and Lee Grant, supported by Katy Rubin. Sonia Bussu and Dena Arya are working with the young people on a participatory evaluation of the process.
During the event the audience of “spect-actors” and a team of policymakers co-created three policy proposals with the young actors to address the problems they identified. The proposals and policy actions relate to:
1) Family centred/ early age career support
2) Accessible Careers Support & Advice Offer
3) Work experience and mentoring
More information on this process here Youth-led Legislative Theatre on Youth Employment in the West Midlands, UK - INSPIRE
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