Performed 23rd May 2025 | Written & Directed by Desiri Okobia
On 23rd May, I had the privilege of seeing Meet the Kids at Theatre Peckham — a bold, moving and energising new play written, directed, and produced by Desiri Okobia, one of my brilliant former students on the MA in Creative Writing and Education at Goldsmiths. The show was a triumph: a smart, emotionally layered portrait of young people growing up and going to school in London. It was also a timely reminder of the power of creative writing, drama, and education to support, stretch and transform young lives.
Here are four lessons I took away:
1. Writing is a tool for survival and connection
It is Billie-Jo — played with great sensitivity by Lola Cripps-Young — who discovers the power of writing in the play. A recent arrival from the Channel Islands, she is processing the recent loss of her father and trying to find her place in a new school and city. Encouraged by Mrs Cleopatra, the school’s empathetic careers adviser (played by Desiri Okobia), Billie-Jo begins to write — and not just about school topics, but from the heart. Her writing becomes a way of expressing grief, hope, and identity.
It reminded me so much of the pedagogy we explore on the MA in Creative Writing and Education — writing not as performance or product, but as process, healing, and growth. This is a foundational idea on the programme: that creative writing can function as a reflective, transformative practice, especially within educational contexts.
As Desiri told me after the show:
“I wanted Billie-Jo’s journey to show that writing can be therapeutic. Even in our confusion and grief, it can help us find our voice and realise that our stories matter.”
That simple but profound insight captures what so many of us in education strive to do: hold space for story, honour lived experience, and empower expression.
2. Drama can hold grief, conflict, and joy in one breath
The play intertwines multiple narratives of adolescence — from Angelique (Kayla Rowe-Wilson), to Jessica (Matilda Baffoe), to Quincy (Ky-mani Carty), whose moral struggle forms a tense through-line. Quincy is caught between loyalty to a troubled friend and his own developing conscience.
Meanwhile, Jamal Abdul offers a standout performance in the dual role of RJ and Francis (or Rance), a character who flips between vulnerability and menace, expertly exposing the pressures young people face to toughen up, to mask, to survive.
The result is a piece that is both emotionally rich and socially astute — one that understands, in the tradition of the best theatre, that truth is never singular or easy.
Desiri shared her intention behind this layered tone:
“Life isn’t simple, and I didn’t want the play to be either. These stories needed to show how grief, hope, and laughter exist side by side. Theatre gives us the space to hold all those contradictions in one breath—just like real life.”
It’s a reminder that arts education isn’t just enrichment. It’s a way of reflecting real life, in all its complexity, with honesty and care — a key ethos on the MA, where we constantly return to the idea of story as lived experience made shareable.
3. Teaching ripples outward in surprising ways
This evening had a personal resonance. One of the young performers is currently a pupil of a former colleague I taught with during my school-teaching days at Coopers’ Company and Coborn School in Upminster. That colleague — Mr French — is a gifted drama teacher, now working in South London, and it was moving to see how his influence continues to flourish in new settings.
These connections — from classroom to stage — are a powerful reminder of the long-term impact that great teaching can have, not just within institutions but across lifetimes and communities.
Desiri reflected on this too, and her words beautifully underline what the MA is all about:
“This play was a chance to merge what I learned on the MA — writing as healing, storytelling as teaching. I wanted to remind everyone that great teaching doesn’t just stay in the classroom; it ripples out and touches lives in unexpected ways.”
So often, the work of education feels invisible. But then a night like this arrives — where the influence of a lesson, a mentor, a story told at just the right moment lights up the stage.
4. We need spaces where young voices lead
Meet the Kids isn’t just a play about young people — it is driven by them. It offers a platform for young performers to inhabit complex, flawed, beautiful characters, and for audiences to witness adolescence in all its realness. These aren’t stereotypes or simplified figures: Quincy, Billie-Jo, Jessica and the others are learning, faltering, pushing boundaries, and discovering who they are.
Theatre Peckham’s commitment to showcasing and supporting this kind of youth-led work is vital — and Desiri’s writing and direction bring it fully, vibrantly to life. Crucially, her MA experience helped her shape that vision.
She put it like this:
“Young people have so much to say, but they also need guidance. Meet the Kids is about giving them the freedom to express, but also the wisdom of mentors who can help them navigate their choices. It’s about balance — voices heard, but also voices guided.”
That philosophy — of empowerment through structure, of freedom supported by craft — sits at the heart of the MA in Creative Writing and Education. It’s not about telling people what to write; it’s about helping them find how to write it, and why it matters.
It was a night to remember — a celebration of courage, talent, and care. I left feeling proud, reflective, and grateful to be part of a community where creative writing and education can intersect in such meaningful ways.
Bravo, Desiri. You reminded us all what education — and theatre — can be.
Cast & Creatives:
- Ky-mani Carty – Quincy
- Matilda Baffoe – Jessica
- Kayla Rowe-Wilson – Angelique
- Lola Cripps-Young – Billie-Jo
- Jamal Abdul – RJ / Francis (Rance)
- Desiri Okobia – Mrs Cleopatra / Writer / Director / Producer
- Felisha Grace – Chinuke / Bonnie (Voice)
- Olivier Kriger – Perez
- Giza Smith – Production Assistant
- Odilia Egyiawan – Movement Direction
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