Love Your Doorstep has been following the Power to Make a Change journey since 2019, when Platinum Performing Arts first announced it had secured five years of National Lottery funding to deliver an ambitious programme giving young people across Enfield a voice, while raising awareness of crime and the challenges affecting their lives.
It was exceptional then. But seeing how that vision has evolved into what we witnessed at Millfield Theatre today?
WOW. Just WOW.
A story that couldn’t be more relevant
At the heart of Next Gen: The Surface is a fictional app called The Surface.
A clever and thought-provoking concept that explores the pressures young people face to fit in, to be accepted, to look and behave a certain way, and to present the version of themselves they believe the world wants to see.
But beneath that surface lies something much deeper.
The insecurities, the pressures, the fear of being different, the struggles that aren’t always visible and the sometimes overwhelming challenges of growing up in today’s world.
It’s about identity, belonging, mental health, social expectations and the different ways young people learn to cope with life.
And what makes this production so powerful is that these issues aren’t delivered through a lecture or a series of warnings.
They’re brought to life through extraordinary storytelling.
The combination of theatre, dance, spoken word, music and striking digital visuals creates something that feels fresh, immersive and incredibly relevant to the generation it represents.
The staging was fantastic. The choreography, lighting, music and visual production worked together beautifully, moving between moments of high energy and those that were far more emotional and reflective.
And the young performers? Absolutely incredible.
There is something especially powerful about watching young people tell stories about the realities of being young.
Erina Lewis and Nina Lewis-Hart – Two remarkable women championing young people
I have to say something about Erina Lewis, Director of Platinum Performing Arts.
She’s just cool.
And I mean that in the best possible way.
Erina has this incredible ability to move between different creative styles, subjects and audiences with apparent ease.
She understands how young minds work, how their imaginations can be unlocked and, most importantly, how to turn their thoughts, experiences and emotions into genuinely clever storytelling.
She can take a serious subject and make it accessible without losing its impact.
She can create something that speaks to a primary school child sitting in the audience while simultaneously making an adult reflect on their own experiences, behaviour or understanding of young people.
That is a rare talent.
And alongside that creativity is Executive Producer Nina Lewis-Hart, someone who has consistently championed young people and believed in the importance of giving them opportunities, a platform and, above all, a voice.
Nina’s commitment to young people and her determination to create opportunities for them to grow, develop confidence and realise their potential is at the very heart of what Platinum Performing Arts represents.
Together, they bring something rather special. A combination of creative brilliance, genuine passion and a deep understanding of the difference the arts can make in young people’s lives.
And what a difference they’re making.
This isn’t simply about producing exceptional theatre. It’s about investing in young people, believing in them and showing them just how powerful their voices can be.
A packed theatre – and a message for every generation
Looking around Millfield Theatre, it was wonderful to see such a packed audience.
Primary school children, teenagers, teachers and adults were all watching the same story unfold.
And that’s what struck me.
We were all watching the same performance, but I suspect we were all taking away something slightly different.
For younger children, it may have been about friendship, confidence and understanding that it’s OK to be different.
For teenagers, perhaps the pressure of fitting in, being judged or feeling they need to hide who they really are.
For adults, parents, teachers and those working with young people, it was a reminder that what we see on the outside is not always a reflection of what’s happening underneath.
One particularly moving element was hearing a young person involved in the project talk openly about living with ADHD, the challenges that had brought and the journey towards understanding how being different could also become a strength.
That authenticity is what gives a project like this its real power.
Young people aren’t simply being asked to perform.
They’re being given the opportunity to be heard.
More than a stage show – a project with purpose
When Platinum Performing Arts launched Power to Make a Change in 2019, the ambition was to capture the thoughts, feelings and experiences of Enfield’s young people and transform them into professional theatre productions, created for young people, by young people.
The programme was also designed to raise awareness of crime, encourage positive choices and work alongside schools, community organisations and local services.
Seven years on, seeing the creativity, confidence and ambition on stage is a wonderful reminder of why projects like this matter.
Theatre has the power to reach people in ways that traditional conversations sometimes can’t.
It can open doors to difficult subjects, challenge perceptions and help young people recognise that they are not alone in what they’re experiencing.
And perhaps most importantly, it gives them a voice.
The production itself was supported by an incredibly talented creative team, with choreography and movement from Kenrick Sandy, Chris Alozie and Benjamin Figueira, and visuals and music production from Omar Ansah-Awuah, Lamar Francis-Douglas and Benjamin Figueira.
From the lighting and digital projections to the music and movement, the quality of the production was outstanding.
It was ambitious, imaginative and beautifully executed.
Every school should see this
I genuinely believe every school should have the opportunity to see this production.
Every young person, every teacher, every parent and every adult who works with or supports young people.
Not because everyone will identify with every part of the story, but because everyone will recognise something.
And if it encourages just one young person to feel more comfortable being themselves, one parent to ask a different question, or one teacher to look beyond a child’s behaviour and consider what might be happening underneath, then it has achieved something incredibly valuable.
This is exactly the kind of creative work that deserves to be seen far beyond one theatre.
Platinum Performing Arts is current.
They understand the world our young people are growing up in. They understand the pressures, the challenges, the changing conversations and the importance of reaching young people in ways that genuinely connect with them.
They don’t shy away from difficult subjects. They embrace them, explore them and transform them into something that creates understanding.
And they do it through the arts, in a way that is accessible, powerful and incredibly engaging.
A huge achievement for Enfield
We talk a lot at Love Your Doorstep about the incredible people and organisations making a difference across our borough.
Platinum Performing Arts is a brilliant example.
What started as a vision to empower young people has grown into something with genuine artistic quality and a strong social purpose.
A huge congratulations to Erina Lewis, Nina Lewis-Hart, the entire creative and production team and, of course, every young performer who stepped onto that stage.
You should all be enormously proud.
We’ve followed Power to Make a Change since 2019, and it was exceptional back then. But what we witnessed today was on another level.
This is theatre that entertains, educates, challenges and inspires.
And above all, it reminds us that behind every young person is a story worth listening to.
Platinum Performing Arts – take a bow. Enfield should be incredibly proud of you.
