EARLIER this year Dramarama youth theatre received an Awards for All Lottery grant in order to create two shows tailormade for young participants.
The first, for 5-11 year olds, was The Moon Boy, performed in June to great acclaim.
When it came to the older, teenage participants, Rachel Thomas, artistic director, wanted source material that would engage young people in our classical theatre tradition and issues that are resonant today.
Any production of The Merchant of Venice asks questions about the nature of justice, how we cope in an uncertain world and about how or why people are driven to acts of cruelty.
All big questions, worth asking over and over, which is why Rachel, chose this play as the focus for her Old masters: New Tricks project.
After workshopping scenes from Shakespeare's play, the youth theatre discussed the essential structure of the story, the characters and the issues and remoulded the play in a way that made it resonant for a modern, young audience.
Lyrics were generated by Rachel with input from the young people; and songs composed by theatre composer Tom Johnson.
The result is The Merchant, a play that honours the characters and pace of Shakespeare's original, while being inspired by the interpretations of Baz Luhrmann and the BBC Shakespeare Retold series.
The result is an ensemble show set in the City of London in 2007.
You can see The Merchant at The Space, Lansdown, Stroud, on Friday October 5 at 7.30pm and on Saturday, October 6 at 2.30pm and 7.30pm.
Tickets cost £2.50 (children), £5 (adults) and are available on the door. The show is appropriate for anyone aged 10 or over.
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