We sat down with the Director of RSC’s First Encounters production of King Lear, Justine Themen, to explore the visionary way we are using Shakespeare’s works to tackle issues that young people feel most strongly about.
What themes from the play do you think will particularly resonate with young people and connect to current issues?
During the R&D sessions, a desire for equity and concerns about leadership kept cropping up. There’s a sense that globally world leaders aren’t listening, especially around urgent issues like climate change.
How have you adapted King Lear to make it accessible and engaging for a younger audience?
First Encounters shows are abridged versions of Shakespeare’s original plays so we knew we had to edit it down and I knew I wanted to foreground the child’s voice. The original gets on for around four hours, and our version is about an hour and fifteen minutes – so a lot of Lear’s monologues have gone and the focus has shifted to the relationships between Lear’s daughters and making space for the voices and experiences of younger characters.
What creative choices did you make in staging and character to connect with young audiences?
As part of the refocus on younger voices, Lear’s Fool will be portrayed as quite a childlike figure in our version. Acting as a bridge between the young audience and the adult world of the play, the Fool will mirror how children often speak truth to power if only we, the adults, would listen to what they have to say.
How are young people involved beyond just watching the performance?
There’s a few interactive elements. As well as the involvement of children and young people’s voices to help shape the Fool’s epilogue, at the end, we want to open up those questions and ask young people what would they change and what would they do to shape the world that they live in.
Why do you believe theatre for young people is so important?
Theatre and the arts are essential for helping them explore and express their understanding of the world and, more specifically, my work aims to validate their voices and encourage creative thinking.
What do you hope young audiences will take away from this production?
We hope they feel heard, empowered and inspired to think about leadership, fairness and their own role in shaping the future. By directly involving them in the performance and post-show discussion, we want to spark hope and agency in the next generation.
RSC First Encounters with Shakespeare: King Lear is at Norwich Theatre Playhouse between 28 – 29 Nov. For more information or to book, visit norwichtheatre.org or call the Box Office on 01603 630 000
