Intermission Youth announces staging new adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Nights Dream

Intermission Youth announces the staging of their new adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Nights Dream, titled MSND. The production opens on 16 November at the Chelsea Theatre, with previews from 9 November and its final performance on 3 December.

The timeless quality of Shakespearean dialogue reaches new heights in MSND. Interwoven into the original narrative with topical themes around identity, relationships, and substance abuse. The company combines A Midsummer Night’s Dream‘s mystical narrative with a contemporary spin that remains current.

Set up in 2008, Intermission Youth Theatre’s aim is to help transform the lives of disadvantaged youth aged between 16-25yo, young people living in deprivation and experiencing high levels of anti-social behaviour, family breakdown, dependency, and criminality. They believe that constant support, nurture, and care in a young person’s life can give them the confidence and self-belief to make positive choices and change the course of their lives.

Artistic Director, Darren Raymond, says of this production: “It was important to root this fantastical story in truth so that young people who may not have come across Shakespeare or have been dismissive of his work as unrelatable can see how relevant his plays can be. This re-imagining of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is about relationships, coming of age, identity and also touches on substance abuse. “

Sir Mark Rylance, on the board of Trustees, comments: “Intermission Youth is a sanctuary for youth. It is a safe place to do unsafe things like express your feelings truly, depend upon others, trust in yourself, and play Shakespeare plays as if they were made for you this morning.

“Under the genius direction of Darren Raymond, IYT has for fifteen years created the most lively, original productions of Shakespeare plays that I have witnessed in London. This is Shakespeare liberated from its time and brought to life in the culture, wit, and wild soul life of London’s young and too often excluded generation.”

LISTINGS

CHELSEA THEATRE

7, World’s End Place, Chelsea, London SW10 0DR