Liyana’s Blog

Day 1 – Monday 8 June 2026

Even before officially starting my work experience, I was met with a warm, friendly environment. I sent an email before my work experience started regarding some concerns I had since, truth be told, I was very nervous. I received a reply from Lydia, who was very understanding, and it helped me get over some of the anxieties I had about starting work experience.

When I arrived on my first day, the décor and atmosphere in the building was very fun and inviting, with numerous art works on the walls and lots of vibrant colours paired with a nice wooden floor. Having arrived about half an hour earlier than I was supposed to, I spent some time waiting in the foyer, which was very child-friendly and comfortable without being overwhelming.

All the staff I met were very kind, friendly and welcoming. I was taken on a very interesting tour by Lydia, where I saw the theatre, the basement and lots of other interesting rooms that I had never considered may be needed. It was very eye-opening to see some of the backstage aspects of creating a show that I’d never been familiar with as a performer.

After the tour I did some work in the office, typing up some written feedback from parents whose children took part in Youth Theatre before going on break. During my break, I took a short walk around the local area, which has lots of shops and places to buy food/drinks. There is even a convenience store right next door, which, living up to its name, was very convenient.

I consider myself very lucky because after my break I was able to supervise a creative after school club. It was amazing to see so much creativity and talent and see Jade, the person who was running the club, help young people explore their identity creatively with a “Museum of Us” theme.

After that club was finished, I went straight down to work with Solar, a Youth Theatre group of young people aged 14-25. The session was very fun, and the staff were kind and understanding. The show they were working on was very interesting and funny and the actors were all very kind.

Day 2 – Tuesday 9 June 2026

I arrived and had a quick chat with Androulla, who told me a little more about what happens at the theatre before looking at the website and reading some blogs, and now writing my own. I watched a production of a Half Moon play, Hot Orange and then wrote a review about the play.

During my break, I had struggled to find food that fit my dietary requirements (such as halal, no dairy etc.). Androulla and Lydia were very quick acting to try and help find solutions and even finding local places that fit my dietary needs to ensure I was eating properly, which was an example of the staff going above and beyond to ensure my comfort here.

After that, I did some work with the Eclipse Youth Theatre group, aged 8-11, where I watched their rehearsal for a play they will be performing in a few weeks. As always, the staff, some of whom I had worked with the previous day at Solar, were very kind and accommodating.

Day 3 – Wednesday 10 June 2026

I came into the office and Androulla and Lydia were not yet in the office, due to a meeting, so I was welcomed by Emily. My first task was to cut and laminate some cards, before I started doing the same thing as Monday, typing up written feedback. After that, I finished up my review from yesterday and polished up the fine details.

Later in the afternoon, I got to work with another Youth Theatre group, Equinox (which, as all the Youth Theatre groups has a spaced themed name. This one is the moment that the sun is directly above the equator, creating a night and day of equal length). The group, which also contained young people aged 8-11, was very fun and engaging, led by Mark and other incredibly welcoming staff and actors who embraced me very warmly. The group was full of unbelievably creative young minds, and it was amazing to watch their very fun and entertaining story come together. The only bad thing about it is that I won’t be able to watch the production, due to my other commitments and schoolwork, which is very unfortunate.

Since I am a musician and currently study music at GCSE, Mark asked me to help with some of the sound and percussion for the play and the young people I worked with were very eager and quick learners, impressively picking up some difficult musical and rhythmic concepts fairly quickly considering their age demographic. I was very impressed by them as I know from other experiences that the excitement of drumming can make it hard to focus on a rhythm, especially for younger students, but all the young people picked it up beautifully. I thoroughly enjoyed working with such an energetic, creative and outgoing group of people.

I also got to use a camera, which I have never done before, to take pictures of the sessions which was a very fun new experience. The entire day was full of new experiences for me which was great because I got to expand my horizons in ways that I would not be able to in school.

Day 4 – Thursday 11 June 2026

I arrived at 10am today, a little earlier than the previous days, to do more office based work. The first thing I did when I arrived was start working on this blog. I then did some typing up of written notes from a meeting. After this, I joined the weekly team meeting and listened to the staff go over new developments, information, projects etc.

After I did some cutting of paper to prepare things for the Art Cart and helped get an installation ready to take down. Then I went down to the resources room in the basement to organise some of the props and extra things that became muddled up over time, which was very fun for me as it relaxes me when I organise things and getting a moment alone in the basement was calming.

Before leaving, I helped register some young people who were about to start their Next Steps session and had a lovely chat with some of the very sociable young people.

Day 5 – Friday 12 June 2026

Similarly to Thursday, today will be an office based day. Currently, I have just come into the office and since today is my last day, this entry will most likely be in present tense for majority of the time. Right now, I’m expecting a calmer day with more office tasks similar to the tasks I did yesterday, such as cutting paper, helping with little things around the office etc. So far, I can conclude that the one thing that stood out most to me about this entire experience is how kind all the people here are, staff and young people alike. I have really enjoyed the time I’ve spent here, and it will be a struggle to return back to school after this.

11:49

I have just finished a lot of typing up written feedback, my most prominent task since I’ve been here. I’m about to get my next task.

14:15

I just got back from my lunch break. I might get to do another review of another show. I’m almost finished my work experience; I have about an hour and forty-five minutes left. During my break, I went out and got some biscuits and chocolate for the staff as a thank you, but they don’t know that yet because its going to be a surprise right before I leave, because I will feel too awkward to sit around for another hour after giving it. I hope they like it.

14:53

I’m watch ‘Dust’. It’s taking very long to load, I’m not sure if I’ll have enough time to write the review. I’m wondering if there’s any other tasks I need to do before leaving. I wouldn’t mind doing the same thing that I did before leaving yesterday, helping with registers, that was quite fun.

14:59

‘Dust’ is still lagging. It just occurred to me that I probably won’t be able to formally sign off on this blog, so if you’re reading this because you are on work experience now, I hope you enjoy working here. I’m sure you will, I definitely did. In case I don’t get a chance to write a formal conclusion, consider this an ending, even though it’s not at the end.

15:27

I finished ‘Dust’ and the review so I’m going to ask for another task. It’s almost 15:30 so I’m thinking that a Youth Theatre group might be arriving soon, though I’m not sure if there is one running today. I assume there is and I hope so as well because I want to do registers again.

15:46

I remembered about the feedback sheet that I was supposed to fill out about my experience as a whole. Perfect timing, really because this is as close to the end I can be without having to leave, so I just filled that one out right now.

15:49

Now I am very sure that there is no registering for me to do but that’s ok because I still got to do a lot of cool things. I don’t imagine much more of significance will happen in the next ten minutes so I suppose I can take this time to formally conclude this blog.

I’ve had a lot of fun, and I feel like I’ve learned a lot about what it could be like to live as an adult in the world. I’m really grateful to have had this opportunity.  Okay, thank you for reading. Bye.