We are committed to facilitating meaningful ways into work in the creative and cultural industries for young people in our local boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark. A key part of that commitment is our Young Associates Programme, which sees us employing a group of local people aged 18-25 to work across our organisation each year.
The energy, creativity and fresh insight our Young Associates bring to the team is invaluable, and we could not do our work in the same way without it. We are delighted to welcome Charlie, Enyo and Sylvian to the Young Vic, and we’re excited for all the brilliant work they will do with us over the coming 8 months.
Charlie Kareem-Komolafe
Social Media and Digital Content Young Associate
Charlie Kareem-Komolafe was born and raised in South London. A recent Journalism, Media, and English Literature graduate, Charlie is the current Social Media and Digital Content Young Associate at the Young Vic.
Their passion for media production and the arts is deeply rooted, having honed their skills as a member and then workshop and social media assistant with the Brixton Youth Theatre and having experience in television production. Since then, Charlie has followed her interest in theatre and performance art, having taken part in industry initiatives with the likes of the Old Vic, Channel 4, Lambeth Literary Festival, and Hay Festival, further solidifying their commitment to the creative industry.
As a Young Associate, Charlie hopes to make the most of this opportunity by gaining a deeper understanding of marketing and audiences, disturbing negative stigmas associated with who theatre is for by upholding and bettering the YV values across platforms.
Enyonam Ansah
Taking Part Young Associate
Enyo is a South London based creative. She is passionate about storytelling and creative engagement and has participated in Theatre Peckham’s Young Producers programme, as well the Almeida Theatre’s Young Producers Programme. She enjoys writing and poetry and has recently had her first piece of writing published and performed poetry at Deptford Literature Festival.
Her aim as an artist is to create a symbiotic relationship between art and community. In a way that creates spaces to engage with and nurture marginalised communities, as well as providing the opportunity to tell diverse and multidimensional stories. She hopes to disrupt the exclusivity and pretentiousness associated with the arts and focus on centring joy, discovery, creativity, play and self-expression.
As a Young Associate for Taking Part, she hopes to get the opportunity to work on meaningful and impactful projects within each strand, to learn more about producing and facilitation whilst gaining a deeper understanding of the theatre industry and the various departments that contribute to running a thriving theatre.
Sylvian Cunningham
Creators Program Young Associate
Sylvian is a London based creative originally from the West Midlands. He trained at the Liverpool Institute for Performing arts in Music and songwriting. He then moved to London to study Performance Design and practice at Central Saint Martins, graduating with a first-class honours.
He is a proud queer, trans man and embraces his identity and its significance in his work. He recently moved into drag and cabaret performance, graduating from Soho Theatres Drag and Cabaret labs. He is now experimenting with work that highlights queer joy, silliness and people focused stories.
As a Young Associate, Sylvian hopes to gain insight into how the theatre world makes choices, what stories it’s looking to tell and how they are being told. He is hoping to learn more about arts leadership and community-based initiatives that bring people together.
If you would like to know more about our Young Associates Programme please contact participation@youngvic.org