MSND – Intermission Youth Theatre/Chelsea Theatre, London

MSND, a take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is this year’s show from Intermission Youth Theatre. By breaking Shakespeare down to build it back up again, IYT create something fresh and relevant as well as giving the young cast a chance to shine.

MSND

It’s almost exactly a year ago that I saw Juliet & Romeo at Chelsea Theatre, my first time seeing work by Intermission Youth Theatre. I wrote a bit then about the background of IYT, set up in 2008 to create opportunities for disadvantaged young people. Theatre is the process around which they organise themselves, but IYT is also about community, support and confidence. Each year a cohort of young people take a work by Shakespeare. They workshop and improvise to break it down into its constituent parts, transform it into something relevant to their contemporary lives, and put on a show. Success stories from IYT range from those who have gone onto a career in acting or the creative industries, to those who have taken their self-belief and assurance to the corporate world or other settings.

This year, the IYT cohort took A Midsummer Night’s Dream as their point of departure. A lot of work later, the end result is MSND. In a creative remix, MSND is a new drug. Those who take it are drawn into the fairy world we know from the original text. They believe they have superpowers, and also quote from a range of Shakespearean texts. It’s a clever way of overcoming the suspension of disbelief required to accept magic, fairies and unexpected transformations. It also allows the cast to explore themes of drug abuse and its impact on family, friendship and self-image.

A True Group Effort

This clever reworking continues throughout. There are still the traditional young lovers, but much more relatable than the Athenian originals. And with perhaps a more satisfying ending to that subplot which I won’t spoil. Titania and Oberon, rather than falling out over a changeling child, are young parents adjusting to new responsibilities. Bottom is working up to a stand-up performance at the big showcase but struggles with a lack of parental validation. The radical reworking, with a mix of original and contemporary dialogue, magnifies the quality which made Shakespeare such a great writer, his ability to weave together themes, plots and characters which are timeless, universal.

IYT do Q&A sessions with the cast after each performance. One thing that comes across is how much this is a group effort. Each and every one of the cohort deserves real kudos for their contributions to the production from the creative process to their performances on the night. There are two alternating casts so who you see may differ, but I had a few standouts. I firstly thought the young lovers were all top notch, especially in their moments of vulnerability: Elijah Maximus as Demetrius, Heavadny Dianne Cheryl Johnson as Helena, Chadrack Mbuini as Lysander and Asiya Belaidi as Hermia. Christopher Mbaki as Oberon and Daniella Adjemon as Titania were also well-matched, and joined by a vibrant and engaging Tane Armachie Siah as Puck.

I could actually continue until I’d named everyone, but please just allow me one final name: Pyerre Clarke (see final image above). He plays a fairy in the cast I saw: ever-present but in the background. And yet he was consistently engaged, expressive and 100% committed. I found myself constantly drawn back to him to see his reaction to the goings on on stage. It shows the potential of a relatively modest part, and the thoughtfulness that goes into building up this production.

It’s a great cause and a fun evening – I’ve not seen an audience enjoying themselves that much for a while. Get yourself a ticket and get down there over the next couple of weeks.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 4/5

MSND on until 3 December 2022