As well as the urgent social problems raised by Adolescence – online misogyny and radicalisation – the show’s phenomenal success has drawn attention to a growing cultural issue: the importance of grassroots drama schools and clubs, and working-class representation on TV.
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.
In pushing back against the “done nothing and came from nowhere” 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’s 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.
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 Churchill. Other 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.
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.
The triumph of Adolescence, coming a day after last Saturday’s “unite the kingdom” rally, is a powerful reminder of art’s duty to reflect the whole of society, to tell everyone’s stories, in authentic voices. For all the talk of “raw talent”, few stars arrive fully formed. If we lose our world-class drama schools, we will lose our place on the world’s stages and screens. The government has promised to redress the decimation of arts education under the Tories. Projects such as the National Theatre’s 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: “Talent is everywhere, opportunity isn’t.” We owe it to the next Coel or Cooper to make sure that talent is discovered and nurtured.
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