Adolescence at the Emmys: A Lesson in Lost Opportunities
Harry Izzard BA International Relations
After capturing the nation’s attention in March of this year to critical acclaim, with the Guardian praising it as ‘the closest thing to TV perfection in decades’, ‘Adolescence’ is back in the media with its Emmy’s performance. ‘Adolescence’, its actors and production team, won in almost every category they were nominated in, coming home with 9 Emmy’s across the whole awards show. Most notable were the awards for Stephen Graham (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie), Erin Doherty (Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie) and Owen Cooper (Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie). Most impressively, Cooper became the youngest ever male actor to win an Emmy for what was his first ever acting role in a for-screen production.
Having won an Emmy for its casting, it’s no surprise that, according to critics, the ensemble was a major key to the success of this show. The approach taken by Casting Director Shaheen Baig, working with producer Stephen Graham, placed an emphasis on bringing new, emerging talent for the show. This wide-net casting approach of looking for otherwise unrecognised and often un-managed young talent appears to have reaped major rewards for the show. His and Erin Doherty’s electric performance in Episode 3 delivered the ‘most astounding episode of a dazzling quartet’, according to Lucy Mangan for the Guardian.
This brings us to the uniquely working class nature of the production. Co-creators of the show, Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne, have worked together before on hit series from the 90s, ‘This is England’. This show was a hit, examining differing subcultures across the UK. This rich history of working class media is strong in ‘Adolescence’, with all three of its Emmy winning actors being from working class backgrounds, and delivering a story that highlights the deepening harm of neoliberal approaches to raising and educating children, as well as the compounding impact of COVID. The limited series’ entire production raises similar questions on neoliberalism’s impact on our culture as a whole.
The Arts have historically been rather exclusive to those from upper and middle class backgrounds. Decades of work to improve access, in particular the opening of public drama schools such as the Bristol Old Vic and Rose Bruford College, now look to be under threat. The government’s halving and subsequent freezing of supplementary arts grants to these schools in 2021 has placed enormous pressure on the arts education sector. Additionally, youth services that can help young people into drama, and provide opportunities have very little government support. Drama Mob, the institution which provided acting classes to Owen Cooper and where he was discovered for the show, is funded by membership fees, ticket sales, and donations from various charities and supporters. This is the story for many youth drama clubs.
Ultimately, while the story of ‘Adolescence’s’ production appears to be that of opportunities massively paying off, there is another story of lost opportunities. We as a culture have lost much to neoliberalism, and our inability to cultivate talent is a part of this loss. The government has a responsibility to foster and nurture the arts, a responsibility that it is soundly failing to achieve. In a world of nepo babies and poor art made for a profit rather than a point, how many great actors, writers, and cumulatively stories, have we lost?
