When I first found Intermission Youth three years ago, I was unemployed, homeless, and had been through so many adversities that I was meant to be sectioned due to psychosis and depression, which was later diagnosed as Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I was encouraged to go and watch "Juliet and Romeo" with the homeless charity, SPEAR, who were advocating for me. I was so moved by the play that I was crying. During the talk back, I heard that not all the Young People (YP) were actual actors and had similar backgrounds to mine. I thought, "Wow, honestly, I want to have that self-confidence again." So, when I actually applied and got in, I came literally to discover myself rather than to learn to be an actor.
I remember in the first session, Nana asked, "Put your hand up if you want to be an actor," and I was the only one who didn’t raise their hand because I purely wanted to find myself and relearn how to gain confidence. The first year I did with IYT was hard, as I came from a care background and almost felt like I was damaged goods and couldn’t be loved. I always had anger and bitterness towards the world because I was always alone with no family and felt like I was always in survival mode. But through IYT's ethos of family and turning judgment into curiosity, I finally learned to release that anger and hurt from my heart because I finally got some form of a family.
I remember the day I almost had an epiphany; I was watching one of the facilitators play, Latiesha, who had been through the care system herself but always had love and light. I asked her how she wasn’t as angry as I was towards the world, and she simply said, “You can’t control what’s happened to you, but you can control how you react.” Honestly, I went home, cried, and tried to be a better version of myself. I also finally got housed, and Nana and Darren helped me move into my flat!
In my second year of Intermission, I learned how to use my lived experience to empower others by getting a job as a career specialist for YP who've been through the care system, and also through setting up my own project that uses social media management, AI, and employability as tools to get vulnerable young people to have agency over their lives and champion their own success. None of that would've been possible without the help, support, and patience of Intermission Youth.
Additionally, playing Hamlet in IY’s production of Excluded! in 2023, a character who descends into madness, was very cathartic. Being vulnerable on stage enough to cry and use emotional recall in order to cry on the spot really helped me work through certain trauma I have been going to therapy to heal from, and I feel like I’ve healed so much just through playing that character. I can now look at certain traumas in my life and be able to face them with a bold face.
Intermission really did change my life, and I will forever be grateful ❤️
