As actors we’ve never had more fun in the rehearsal room or on stage than in performing Shakespeare. And we’ve never enjoyed it more than when there have been young people in the audience – laughing, cheering, booing – or simply enthralled! They may not understand all the language (let’s face it, the adults don’t get it all either!) but they can relate to all the characters – the goodies, baddies, lovers, dreamers, kings, queens, fools and clowns.
We love performing for children. They are unashamedly in the moment; demonstrative, honest and easily distracted. Performing with children in mind imposes the remit of never, for a moment, alienating our audiences. In making children our target audience, we have no choice but to create work that is funny, physical, understandable, thought provoking and life affirming; otherwise the children will simply switch off or get up and leave.
Our captivation with Shakespeare continues to grow as we learn more, read more, watch more and in particular play more. The enjoyment of Shakespeare is so much in the playing of Shakespeare and it’s for this reason that IJ was formed.
Nowadays, young children are benefitting from the realisation that you can’t teach Shakespeare unless you DO Shakespeare.
IJ workshops are all about getting everyone to step into the world of his wonderful plays and be those characters – thinking their thoughts and speaking their lines.
