{"id":22560,"date":"2025-09-19T21:20:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T21:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=22560"},"modified":"2025-09-19T21:20:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T21:20:18","slug":"the-guardian-view-on-adolescence-cleaning-up-at-the-emmys-the-importance-of-grassroots-drama-training-editorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=22560","title":{"rendered":"The Guardian view on Adolescence cleaning up at the Emmys: the importance of grassroots drama training | Editorial"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A<\/span>s well as the urgent social problems raised by Adolescence \u2013 online misogyny and radicalisation \u2013 the show\u2019s phenomenal success has drawn attention to a growing cultural issue: the importance of grassroots drama schools and clubs, and working-class\u00a0representation on TV.<\/p>\n

Last Sunday, 15-year-old Owen Cooper became the youngest male actor to win an Emmy, for his performance as the teenage murder suspect Jamie Miller. Amid the celebrations, the founders of Drama MOB in Manchester, where Cooper attended weekly classes for two years, rightly pointed out the crucial part this training played in landing him the role, an impact the young actor acknowledged in his acceptance speech.<\/p>\n

In pushing back against the \u201cdone nothing and came from nowhere\u201d narrative, they paid tribute to all the teachers working in unglamorous community halls up and down the country to make such stories a reality. Billy Elliot, after all, only learned to pirouette thanks to his chain-smoking ballet teacher, Mrs Wilkinson, played by Julie Walters in the film. Walters started out at Liverpool\u2019s Everyman theatre, whose youth programme also counts the Adolescence co-writer and star Stephen Graham among its alumni. As Walters has said, the prospects for young working-class actors are much starker today.<\/p>\n

Drama schools across the UK are in crisis. For the first time since it opened in 1946, Bristol Old Vic theatre school will not be welcoming undergraduate students this term. The Rose Bruford College in Sidcup, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, has reported financial difficulties. The college gave a chance to Gary Oldman, who returns next week in the hit series Slow Horses. He went from working in an abattoir (among various odd jobs) to winning an Oscar for his performance as Winston\u00a0Churchill.\u00a0Other leading drama schools have closed completely. According to Campaign for the Arts, the number of students taking drama at GSCE and A-level has plummeted since 2010.<\/p>\n

New research shows that the grip of private education on the most influential jobs is stronger than ever. This will be no surprise to the TV and film industries: almost half of all British stars nominated for major awards in the last decade were privately educated. Yet there has been no shortage of working-class dramas in the last few years, with awarding-winning shows such as Mr Bates vs the Post Office, and I May Destroy You, written by and starring Michaela Coel, who grew up in Tower Hamlets, east London, and won a bursary award to Guildhall School of Music and Drama.<\/p>\n

The triumph of Adolescence, coming a day after last Saturday\u2019s \u201cunite the kingdom\u201d rally, is a powerful reminder of art\u2019s duty to reflect the whole of society, to tell everyone\u2019s stories, in authentic voices. For all the talk of \u201craw talent\u201d, few stars arrive fully formed. If we lose our world-class drama schools, we will lose our place on the world\u2019s stages and screens. The government has promised to redress the decimation of arts education under the Tories. Projects such as the National Theatre\u2019s schools programme, which aims to reach every child in Britain, as well as community ventures like Drama MOB, deserve recognition. But more must be done to support young actors from all backgrounds, especially outside London. As Idris Elba memorably put it: \u201cTalent is everywhere, opportunity isn\u2019t.\u201d We\u00a0owe it to the next Coel or Cooper to make sure that talent is discovered and nurtured.<\/p>\n