Golden Time (and Other Behavioural Management Strategies) is an engaging and beautifully written creative performance on neurodiversity in what feels like a rigid educational system in the UK.
Having attended school abroad, I was not familiar with the so-called ‘golden time’, a one-hour time at the end of the week which allows children to do any kind of activity, but only the ones who behaved well enough during the week.
Director Giulia Grillo guides the Glaswegian writer and performer Kate Ireland in a 60-minute show that explores how neurodivergent kids deal with this strict system, and how it can affect adults’ lives too.
‘I won’t waste these 60 minutes’, she says. ‘And most importantly, I will not go over time today,’ she admits, laughing, while she shows us on screen the number of warnings she received from the Pleasance after the show was constantly running late.
Creatively subtitled on screen, Kate brings to Edinburgh Fringe a performance which is quite accessible for everyone, and I feel this can be quite rare at the Festival.
Kate aims to replicate a classroom atmosphere, and she immediately starts by giving a brief history of how education consultant Jenny Mosley created the Golden Time concept. Afterwards, she delivers a sort of reward system to the audience, by rewarding us with some pins every time we open up about our school experiences. There is a workshop exercise that makes us identify some of our favourite carefree everyday activities, ones that should not be dictated by any rules.
Nothing feels forced, the vibes are cosy and safe, and Kate shares her vulnerability and empathy with us. She unfolds her experience as a teaching assistant in a school, and delivers a creative and unique theatre performance structured around her first week in the new job.
The story follows day by day her journey into the classroom environment, particularly focusing on one young girl, whom she refers to with ‘you’. She is not only speaking with the child, but also with all of us who feel different and not understood by today’s society.
The UK’s strict educational system too often doesn’t take neurodiversity into consideration, and Katy empathises with the situation by showing how Golden Time reflects on her life too. These events trigger past memories of when her mum was constantly telling her to always have everything under control, be part of the crowd, and not be different.
It’s an emotional and personal story, a sort of stream-of-consciousness poetical exercise, accompanied by engaging music. Sometimes this theatrical part feels a bit too long and unbalanced with the workshop’s moments, but the overall discussion makes you reflect on wider topics.
With an invitation to reconnect with our inner child and do what makes us feel alive, and not always what society wants us to do, Kate Ireland presents a thoughtful and meaningful ‘Golden Time’. Her aim is to continue this journey by touring schools with this performance.
Golden Time by Kate Ireland, directed by Giulia Grillo, was at Pleasance Dome during Edinburgh Fringe 2025.
