Stolen Spotlight is a bold, youth-led, community-driven project developed by Workie Ticket Theatre to confront misogyny, stalking and the growing influence of hate and online extremism.

Through the co-creation of an original audio play with young women from the North East, we delivered a programme of creative workshops supported by youth worker Sue Gorton-Davison from ThisLife Collective. Prior to this project, the young women were involved in a Reclaim the Night campaign, where they co-created a poem responding to gender-based violence. After watching Adolescence, and witnessing the growing volume of misogynistic content online, they felt a strong and urgent need to respond creatively - to centre their own voices and tell stories by them rather than about them. These sessions provided a safe and supportive space for participants to build skills, share lived experiences and transform their stories into powerful creative action. The project also brought together two groups of young women from different schools for separate collaboration days, alongside collective banner-making that strengthened solidarity and a shared sense of purpose.

The audio play was written by Amy McKale, a young woman mentored by Workie Ticket’s Founder and Co-Artistic Director, JoJo Kirtley. Following a reading, the play was directed by Ashlea Sanderson and recorded/edited by Ko-Le Chen. Accompanying worksheet resources were created by Sue Gorton-Davison to support further discussion and learning.