Canterbury actor Michael Anders is making a big song and dance out of the Bard with a new musical production.
Romeo & Juliet – The Musical is the latest show by Shakespeare 4 Kidz, a theatre company which brings the classic texts to a younger audience. With the use of song, dance and some contemporary language, they aim to draw children and teenagers into Shakespeare’s thrilling world of intrigue, romance, tragedy and comedy.
Anders, 25, has been working with the company for about a year and plays Benvolio and Balthasar in the latest show, as well as being the fight captain. He is passionate about continuing Shakespeare’s legacy and showing young audiences that the stories are still relevant to them.
“Shakespeare was the father of modern literature and has inspired generations of playwrights,” he said. “So many films are based on the plays. He was such a great storyteller and by changing the time and settings, the plays are still as accessible today as they were 400 years ago.”
With big musical numbers, contemporary references among the original texts and as much comedy as possible, the company manages to draw young audiences into the story. Their high energy, vibrant productions challenge the notion that Shakespeare’s works are dry pieces designed just for adults.
“As a student in a typical high school, I got the impression that Shakespeare was an academic subject,” Anders said. “Sitting down in an English class and reading it out was very alien to me. I thought, ‘it’s a play, let’s play with it’. We offer workshops as well, getting kids to act out plays in two-hour sessions. It’s one way to get kids interested while young and hopefully they will go on to study it further.”
Anders grew up in Temple Ewell and attended Archers Court Maths and Computing College in Dover, before moving on to Canterbury College. After leaving the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff four years ago, he has been continually working and his film credits include The Other Boleyn Girl.
Before joining Shakespeare 4 Kidz, Anders had previously been involved in Shakespeare productions aimed at young people with London-based theatre company Box Clever.
“When I was a student, I felt a bit stilted about how much I could do with Shakespeare,” he said. “With training, I started to see it in a more practical way. I had looked at it as a book, but it’s not a book. Once I had got that preconception out of my head, it was great. Shakespeare 4 Kidz have the ethos that it’s not just for middle-class people who go to see the Royal Shakespeare Company. These plays were meant for everyone. By getting children interested while they’re young, that hopefully means we’ll continue to see these plays in the future.”
Romeo & Juliet – The Musical will be at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, on Wednesday, November 19 and at Woodville Halls, Gravesend, on Thursday, November 27, and Friday, November 28.
POSTED: 08/11/2008 16:00:00
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