Image: Photo of Aleksa Asme

My name is Aleksa Asme. I’m a 17-year-old student, public speaker and actor with Sounds Like Chaos, a theatre company resident at The Albany in Lewisham. Sounds Like Chaos is a professionalising creative collective made up of 12–25 year olds from across Southeast London. Our most recent project is called DIRT which tackles the emergency of climate change and explores the here and now through the stories and journeys of our global families. A multi-faceted creative journey engaging often communities that are often excluded in the climate emergency debate, DIRT was devised collaboratively, and it comprises a new theatre show DIRT – running from 22-30 Oct –, a series of accompanying films as well as a collection of voices and artworks including a zine, a podcast, and film & sound art.

I’ve been part of the company since October 2019. SLC has been one of the biggest successes and benefits to my life. Aside from obviously improving my performing skills, SLC is a company that never allows your creativity to wane, and it provides you with the utmost support to progress in any aspect of life. Most company members have a talent or passion additional to acting; our directors are always generously working to provide us with extra opportunities outside of the company to help us develop these talents. Additionally, we get to watch other shows as a community and take part in workshops to develop skills we may or may not already have.

As a public speaker who’s constantly writing speeches and poetry, I have benefitted hugely from the opportunity to perform at events, enter competitions and write for magazines.

Having great interest in marketing and communications, SLC opened a role for myself and a few other artists to become Online Content Developers for this project, as well as linking me with another company offering the same role.

As a politics student, I conducted a research project for DIRT exploring young people’s views on climate change and I was privileged to share my interesting findings with a member from Extinction Rebellion, which is a key pressure group in my political studies.

In such unprecedented times of Covid, SLC has not only provided great experience for future employment, but it has also given us motivation to keep going, reminding us who we are and the talents and creativity we possess. The amount of effort and heart that goes into our company, both from the directors and the artists, delineates the sense of community and passion that lies within us. Sounds Like Chaos is a home; despite the immense diversity in backgrounds and characters, there is always a sense of belonging. We master the underrated freedom of being able to mix work with joy and pleasure. There is always something new to learn, another laugh to be shared and a creative idea to be developed.

SLC is about empowering the youth. It’s about giving us the voice society often supresses and/or fails to recognise. It provides us with the resources to develop a wide range of skills and allows us to be included in some of the world’s biggest issues. SLC does more than just consider political concepts of climate change and diversity, SLC is about making a difference. Through working in this show, SLC allows us to acknowledge the faults in our communities, societies and the world as a whole and unleash our creativity to learn, educate, inspire and impact others.

We are more than just some power-hungry, ambitious or materialistic teenagers who are here to just become rich or famous or gain some employability skills. We are young people who care. We care about ourselves, our families, communities and our pasts and futures. SLC works beyond just the artists that are with us.

That’s why it’s so important that other young people engage in our work. DIRT is a construct that explores the reality of the youth in a fun, vibrant and enticing manner, whilst still highlighting some of the biggest issues we are encountering today.

It is relatable, inspiring and educational. It’s not a show we put on for you. It’s a show where everyone is included. Your voices, your opinions, your input. We are the generations of the future. We are the power of the future. Let’s create history.  

Find Aleksa here: linktr.ee/aleksaasme

soundslikechaos.com

DIRT
Now until 30 Oct
The Albany
thealbany.org.uk