‘Nothing is perfect all the time’
Genna Allan was one of the comperes of the Care Experienced Open Day. Here’s what she learned from being up on the stage
In 2019 there was no way I would have done what I did at this event.
That year I was invited to the Care Experienced Open Day through the Citizens Theatre, because their WAC Ensemble – a theatre company for care experienced young adults – were invited to perform.
I didn’t really know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised – it was nice to see the artistic work that had been done throughout the year. I was happy to get on the stage because I was becoming a character, but the thought of standing up and being a compere: I would have definitely said no. I would have hid at the back of the room.
Confidence is a huge thing for me that I know has improved. Coming back, two years on, I could see how much other people had progressed in that time, and I felt the progress in myself.
There were a couple of hundred people in the audience. We filled out two floors of Saint Luke’s, and Articulate had taken over The Pipe Factory with an art exhibition. But I wasn’t nervous.
I was happily standing on the stage, being a compere. There were a couple of things that went wrong and I just started telling jokes! Just for the fun of it! That’s not something I would do on a day-to-day basis. It kept the mood going – it kept a happy atmosphere in the room.
Later, someone told me I should go into stand-up comedy. That made me giggle! I thought about it for a good couple of weeks.
“Two years on, I could see how much other people had progressed in that time, and I felt the progress in myself”
When I was young I took dance classes, and at school my teachers really pushed for arts. I’m so thankful for it. We got to do some really big productions – Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story. We didn’t just do High School Musical – we got the full shebang! That really helped with my passion. The arts are how I express myself.
I became part of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Transitions programme, and did some short courses. From there I found my way into the Citizens Theatre. They pushed me into higher education, and I’m in the lucky position that I’m about to complete an honours degree in acting.
As the Open Day compere I introduced all the acts to the stage. Everyone was great, and it was nice to see the vast array of things that were shown. There were art projects and poems, and people had written songs.
Nobody did the same thing – they were all different. There were no two pieces of art in The Pipe Factory that looked the same.
I think it’s important for people with care experience to know that not everything needs to be perfect. Nothing is perfect all the time: that’s just an impossible dream.
Every care case is different, and everybody needs to be spoken to on an individual basis. Cases can’t ever compared because you’ll never have two people who have had the same experience. You can’t expect every single person in the care system to fit into the same box. That’s another impossible dream.
Maybe that’s how care experience and the arts are linked: you’ll never get two pieces that are exactly the same. Everyone is unique.
As told to Jess Connett
Photograph of Genna Allen by Gerry Fox
