As part of Lewisham Live, the Albany Young Creatives are going to be presenting We Didn’t Start the Fire? an evening of music and dance with acts which raise burning questions of the youth of today. We’ve been talking to the Albany Young Creatives to find out more about themselves and their opinions on identity, this week…
Name: Christine Mears
Age: 23
Fun fact about you: I am producing and directing my first ever one-woman show!
What is your role on the Young Creatives team? Artistic Director
What is your favourite part about it? Being able to work with such a dedicated, inspiring, motivated and clever team of people!
Let’s talk about the topic of the event now,
What is identity for you?
Identity for me is your likes and dislikes, what makes you light up and what you’re passionate about, what you would stand up to defend and what you believe in. It’s the people you choose to spend your time with and the places you love to go. It’s your values and morals. It’s not necessarily your job. It isn’t what you present on social media and it’s not the persona you put on to shield yourself against the pressures of society. Identity is your true self.
If you could choose a destination to best describe your identity what destination would be and why?
I think it would probably be the backstage of a theatre or a rehearsal room where I feel most at home.
Do you think identity is defined by the country you were born in?
I don’t think you need to associate with your country if you don’t want to. No one should ever just be refined down to just their nationality. Humans are more complex than that and so I would say no.
How important is identity to you?
I would like to be known for my passions and interests rather than my job which pays the rent, and so to a degree, I am sometimes conscious of what other people perceive my identity to be. I think it’s easy to overthink and over-analyse your identity in moments of insecurity or crisis in life.
Being proud of my identity is important to me, no matter how different it is to the people around me.
If you could, would you change your identity? Why?
Nope! Because I am happy with my current identity and I wouldn’t change it for anyone!
Lewisham Live! We Didn’t Start the Fire?
Saturday 24th March at 7.30pm. Ages 16+.
To book tickets and find out more, click here.
The Albany, Deptford 