There’s method in Harlem’s Madness

11:13am Thursday 16th October 2008

William Shakespeare’s timeless plays could not be more celebrated, but their accessibility has often been seen as limited among younger audiences.

With their latest production, The Hackney Harlem Theatre Company set to readjust the appeal of Shakespeare for the younger generation, giving one of his most loved plays a modern twist and incorporating relevant issues of today with music, dance and drama.

In Midsummer Night’s Madness, the setting is dragged forward into the year 2068, in which a post-war Hackney is about to celebrate the marriage of its hero, before the ‘invisibles’ arrive to play havoc with the mortals around them.

In order to connect with the younger audience, the performing company - who devised and scripted this version of the play - proposes to hold workshops in order to further explore the issues and themes, as well as looking at remixing the work of William Shakespeare.

The workshops aim to highlight just how positive the performing arts can be for youngsters, encouraging their participation in future productions.

The Hackney Harlem players have all recently graduated from the Hackney Empire’s Artist Development Programme, and this performance will confirm them as essential local talent before they take the play to New York next year.

The older appreciators of Shakespeare’s work should not be dissuaded by the aimed appeal at the youth. The company’s performance promises to be a tense, heart warming and engaging re-imagining of Shakespeare’s classic work.

Midsummer Night’s Madness runs at the Hackney Empire from October 28 to November 1. Tickets are priced at £10 for adults, £5 for under 18’s, and £3.00 for groups of ten or more, and can be booked through the box office on 020 8985 2424 or online via www.hackneyempire.co.uk