Xiaohongshu
In our latest blog, UCL students and research volunteers Emma Thomas and Zoe Raza take us behind the scenes at the annual Hackney Shed Slam Final. Through the Community Research Initiative’s research volunteering programme at UCL Students’ Union, students team up with community partners for 2–3 month projects to put their research skills to work on real‑world challenges. Emma and Zoe worked with Júlia Couto, Community Programmes Manager at Hackney Shed, to capture the impact of the Slam using interviews with the performers. Read on to find out about what they discovered about the Slam and its impact on young people.
Hackney Shed is a theatre company for young people that achieves inclusive and participatory theatre. The slam competition is an annual event that started in 2018, where schools from across Hackney are given the opportunity for their talented dramatists to have free workshops to develop their students’ performance skills.
The Hackney Shed SLAM competition 2025 continued for another year, inviting eight of the best monologue performers from All Saints Catholic High School, Holy Family School, and The City Academy Hackney. Upon arrival at City Academy Hackney, we were met with a brewing excitement and enthusiasm for the SLAM competition run by Hackney Shed. Once the schools had arrived, the first activity of the day was a creative warm-up. All the year 9s and 10s, including the audience members, got involved. It was nice to see the three schools interact and work with one another to make creative tableaux.
The performances impressed me with their range from comedy to dark to emotional.
Before the competition started, there was a practice run so all the young people could get a chance to get a feel for the stage as well as have an audience. The performances impressed me with their range from comedy to dark to emotional. Within the rehearsals, there were a few tears, a few moments of doubt and a few forgotten lines. The nerves here were palpable, and the excitement enveloping. What I noticed throughout these practice runs was the constant support given by the other year 9/10s, as well as from Hackney Shed’s Júlia and Georgie. The eight performances went by quickly, and the City Academy stage was set…
After a little wait and a spot of lunch, the judges arrived and were announced as Aiofe Beaumont from the Arcola Theatre, Izzy Cotterill from the National Theatre, Khushboo Shah from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Suzie Hall from Hoxton Hall & Toby Graham from Hackney Shed. I was surprised to find myself excited by their names, as well as to hear about the fantastic range of prizes from the Pages of Hackney, Hackney Empire, The Castle Cinema, and Plonk Crazy Golf (I was a little jealous myself).
Then it was time for the main event, and you could feel the atmosphere was a lot more tense, but I was surprised to see that those doing the monologues looked incredibly calm walking up to the stage. Those performing monologues appeared motivated by the presence of judges and certainly performed up to the challenge.
Cem started us off again, with even more confidence than before, painting the picture of a young boy, avoiding the external pressures through an online community. Next up came Prince’s performance, a piece that excellently displayed the way in which young people allow peer pressure to influence their decisions. He managed to expertly display the conflicted nature of the character as he tried to place the blame on others after something terrible (we never found out what) happened to the new kid in school.
Lakaya’s emotive performance revolved around themes of loneliness, which she captured beautifully within the isolating experience of being a middle child. Followed by Zofia, with a powerful monologue revolving around her character looking into a mirror and struggling to see herself or recognise who she was becoming.
In all of these performances, each actor managed to truly convey the frustration of not being understood, engaging all of the audience with their pertinent messages.
Continuing with the theme of acceptance, David’s piece revolved around his character's experience of being unable to fit in and struggling to understand why. In all of these performances, each actor managed to truly convey the frustration of not being understood, engaging all of the audience with their pertinent messages. The theme was broken up by a comedic piece about receiving a truly awful present by Lamiyah that got the audience and the judges laughing.
Afterwards, a twisted and dark piece by Kayra truly gave the audience the chills, as well as having elements of comedy within it to give the performance and character true depth. Finally, came the winning performance by Guilder, who wonderfully portrayed how something as simple as choosing what to wear holds so much weight for women.
As the judges debated which monologue they felt was the best, we waited anxiously to see who was going to win the prize. During the wait, the City Academy Hackney jazz band (who were incredibly talented) played so well that they also improvised a song for all of us to enjoy.
What was potentially the most noticeable was how everyone rallied in support of one another across the entire time; applause was loud for everyone, and support was unanimous, making this environment really special.
What was potentially the most noticeable was how everyone rallied in support of one another across the entire time; applause was loud for everyone, and support was unanimous, making this environment really special. After the results, we interviewed the performers, asking each of them how they felt about their performances and the day in general. Each participant was really excited about their day, recalling how “it was an experience that would help her in the future”, as one participant claimed.
An angle that I was extremely interested in is the way that the experience, and especially the workshops, had influenced their confidence. We asked a couple of questions about their confidence before the workshop and how it was affected by the workshop. Every student said that it had improved their confidence a lot, not just performance-wise but also with speaking to people in general. What was interesting was that a few of the year 9/10s mentioned they were already confident, while others said that they really doubted their confidence beforehand.
What seemed special about this programme is how each participant thought they had benefited from the programme, no matter how they were feeling beforehand.
What seemed special about this programme is how each participant thought they had benefited from the programme, no matter how they were feeling beforehand. Even the confidence in being in front of the camera was noticeable, as many of the students seemed remarkably comfortable during our interviews. During the interviews, one of the performers mentioned a highlight being, “when people were clapping for you, even though they didn’t know you, they were still supportive.” That encapsulated the highlight of the day for me; it was hearing the other school students supporting each other in such a genuine way.
Before signing up for this experience, I admittedly had no idea what to expect; therefore, my expectations for this event were open. I was positively surprised by how every single monologue performance was different and unique. The environment was simultaneously professional, competitive and really supportive, which is truly unique. The range between the monologues made watching it again truly fascinating and a fun, exciting, and important day of theatre for everyone involved.
Curious to find out more and get involved? Then head over to our research volunteering page!
About the Community Research Initiative
We are a part of the Students' Union Social Impact Team. We bring people together across the student-community divide to explore the possibility of creating socially impactful research with and for the community. From discovering new ways of working to co-creating research with local communities, we are here to walk with students through their community research journey.
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