Our cast of young people from across London enjoy starting afternoon rehearsals with an impromptu rap.Our cast of young people currently devising a response to our main house show of Macbeth spent some time talking about their experience devising with director Caroline Byrne and how incorporating choreography is changing their perspective on Shakespeare and theatre.
What are you getting out of rehearsals and the project in general?
Calum: I have been exposed to physical theatre for the first time and how you can paint a story using your body instead of using words. This is something I haven't had experience in before and it has really opened my eyes about how you can show something without even saying anything.
Ali: This project is actually helping me work a lot easier with other people and to work within a group of completely different ages... It doesn't matter about age or where you come from, it's just about what you can bring to the table.
Joshua: I have been able to use my imagination to form movement and also use movement to express myself and bring my imagination to life.
What do you think about Macbeth?
Jordi: I have done Macbeth about four or five times before and what I have done is mainly scripted performance. Now that we are doing a movement piece it's not all about learning lines, it's using movement to create the whole performance.
Have you experienced Shakespeare before and if so, in what way/ what do you think of him?
Django: What I think is interesting is that we are creating a movement piece based on a Shakespeare play, as Shakespeare is normally based on text and is very wordy. It's interesting because most of the movement is based on violence, death and blood but we are creating a movement piece based on the things in between; sanity and the relationships between different people.
Kieran: I think William Shakespeare is a bit of a stirrer. He makes plays to comment on what's going on in England at the time he does that really well and he does it in an admirable way.
Jordi: William Shakespeare is a cool dude.
What are you looking forward to the most in your show?
Neuza: I am looking forward to how we have interpreted it and how we can break the Shakespeare stereotype by using movement and bring new life to Macbeth.
Leticia: I am looking forward to the performance because we see how many people think Shakespeare is boring because of the text.
What do you think of the Young Vic?
Ali: I think they are really enthusiastic about young people and try to get fresh new ideas. It's a really good and comfortable place to be in. Every time I come here I am really welcomed and people are really nice to me. It's a really lovely place.
Kieran: Very nice place, five out of five stars
Our Parallel Macbeth will be shared with an invited audience in January 2015. To find out more about our Parallel Macbeth production and the young people involved take a look at our blog post.
