Still Relevent Today.

I really loved the recent 3 part documentary about two schools from totally different parts of Coventry coming together under the direction of Paul Roseby of  The National Youth Theatre to put on a performance of Romeo and Juliet at the Belgrade Theatre. Well, Shakespeare was a local lad wasn’t he!?

It was a very clever device to bring the young people from two very different areas together as at first they could only see their differences (two houses both alike in dignity etc etc) but through working together they began to uncover their similarities and to realise that although Shakespeare was writing 400 years ago, the themes he explored then are still relevent today and, what is more, are relevent to them.

The contemporary staging, setting the action in Coventry in the 1980’s which was a time of great civil unrest, and use of live music (a very clever use of the music of  Coventry band The Specials, whose music seemed to encapsulate the voice of the youth of that era) helped them engage even more with the material and kept the audience gripped (if the shots of the audience comprising mainly of teenagers watching the performance on giant screens outside the theatre are to be believed)

To watch them grow in confidence and take ownership of the material was inspiring – God knows youth theatre projects aren’t always so successful, just getting them to show up is a struggle sometimes. No doubt the presence of cameras and the lure of being on television probably ensured that they turned up when required but even so they showed real commitment to the project and to each other. Best of all was the look on their faces when they realised that they had pulled it off successfully and that the audience had really appreciated their performance. What a great opportunity those young people have been afforded – a once in a lifetime experience.
You can catch it on BBC iPlayer for the next week – When Romeo met Juliet BBC2 – enjoy!