Young People as Legislators: Legislative Theatre and Youth Parliament

A case-study article examining a six-month legislative theatre project in the UK that engaged young people in youth-parliament structures and theatre-driven decision-making.

The study reflects on how the project combined theatrical methods with the British Youth Council’s “Make Your Mark” youth-vote campaign to move young people into roles of decision-makers. It highlights three major themes: the risk of tokenism in youth engagement, divergence between artistic process and outcome, and the challenge of achieving long-term political impact. The author argues that the theater-based intervention fell short of fostering genuine agency because of structural issues around youth representation and institutional partnership.

Source: White Rose University Consortium
Language: English

Authors: Matthew Elliot

Year of publication: 2021