Background inspired by Shakespeare's Julius Caesar The Intermission Youth Theatre (IYT) is currently working on its first production “Wasted” an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The idea came from the theatre’s Artistic Director, Darren Raymond. “It did not take me long to decide what I was going to do as our first production. A large part of my training as an actor was to study the work of Shakespeare. As many of us would agree, his writing is phenomenal and his stories extremely engaging. However as a child I always used to find his work very daunting, the language was alien to me and I found it impossible to understand and still do even to this very day! In 2006 I found the key (that worked for me) to unlocking his text. That key was, to take his work, put it on its feet and not be afraid to PLAY with it. There are many different versions and interpretations of Shakespeare’s work, this is not an accident, it is because Shakespeare can be interpreted in a number of different ways and I don’t believe that any one way is right. That is part of the beauty. With Shakespeare, you need to own the words, make them your own and you will then be able to recreate the magic of 400years ago. You may ask WHY Caesar? Out of all his plays why Julius Caesar? It is important when working with young people that you find a project they can closely relate too. By doing this you are more likely to engage with them in the first instance. At IYT we work with young people at risk of offending, young people that are socially challenged and those that would not necessarily have an opportunity to participate in such activities. Alongside young aspiring actors and professional actors. A major problem in our society at present with young people is the ever-increasing knife and gun epidemic. More and more young people are leading a life where violence is considered the norm. More gangs are being formed and we are closely following the trait of America, with the increase in homicide numbers. Julius Caesar is a play that deals with many of these issues, leadership, friendship, violence, knife crime, murder, and betrayal but to name a few. When you decode his words and get down to the plot, down to the root of these issues, the young people are left in amazement and are totally engaged in the piece. The play deals with the very same issues that they have to deal with in their everyday life. They take comfort in the fact that writers like Shakespeare, who is perceived as being for the white middle and upper class people, actually wrote his plays for everyone, he understood people and that is why his work has withstood the test of time.” “Wasted” has being devised by the Youth Theatre; it is guaranteed to be an exciting and cutting edge piece of theatre. The play opens at “The Intermission theatre” on the 16th of April 2009, if you don’t want to miss (which you shouldn’t) book your places now.   More info Endorsements The Adult Cast Class Report The Team More photos