Guest Blog: Darren Raymond, Artistic Director of Intermission Youth, on 20 Years of Creating Opportunity and Transforming Young Lives For the Better

If you would have told me, 20 years ago, I would be leading Intermission Youth in celebrating 15 years of youth work and theatre, I would not have believed you. One because, I didn’t know much about theatre and two because I had little interest in helping young people. But an opportunity to take part in a drama workshop, back in 2005, changed all that for me.

At a real low point in my life, I was introduced to and fell in love with theatre and storytelling. In this workshop we played games and read Shakespeare! I was never enthused about his plays in school, they didn’t speak to me, I never felt like I was represented in his world. But there was something different about it this time around, we looked at Othello, a character searching for love, identity and belonging, I could relate. The facilitator wasn’t too bad either, you might recognise the name… Mark Rylance!!

He allowed us to respond to the text in a way that was authentic to us, none of this highbrow stuff, we were encouraged to be real. For the first time, I was able to exist in a space where I felt I was able to contribute in a positive way, a space where what I had to share mattered; a space where I didn’t feel excluded.  I had a strong desire to extend this feeling and offer an opportunity to young people who I knew were struggling to get to grips with life and so set up Intermission Youth in 2008.

After learning from Mark, who is now a great friend and trustee of Intermission Youth, I set about to remix Shakespeare, I wanted to find a way, like he did with me, to make the work affect the player. My thing was language, I used to rap as kid and, like Shakespeare, I loved words, so one day I thought what would happen if I mixed Shakespeare’s words with mine and the result was electrifying. It allowed people in, who before might have felt excluded.  

It makes perfect sense, then, for us to mark this amazing milestone with a remount of our 2019 hit show, Excluded, a mash up of Shakespeare’s best known characters, performed by the young people on our current 10-month Youth Theatre programme.  

Also taking to the stage this November, will be a cast of Intermission graduates performing Taming Who?, a remix of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew! Having the grads in rep with The Youth Theatre demonstrates what Intermission is all about, bringing people together and transforming lives for the better. We do this through constant care, community, and encouragement. 

I remember the first workshop we ever had, four young people arrived, and I had no idea what we were going to do but that was where the magic lay, in the unknown, working it out together. Today we have over 150 applicants applying each year to be a part of The Youth Theatre programme, and we have managed to hold onto our organic approach to the work, which is an important component for our success.

Over the years I have seen many of our young people go on to achieve great things, both off and on the stage and its great comfort to know that you have contributed, in a small way, to someone’s success story. Our graduates are continuing to turn heads with their King and Queen moves in the industry. It’s almost impossible to turn on your box without seeing our talent represented on screen or on the stage somewhere.

Both Taming Who? and Excluded promises to be a fresh, bold, and exciting pieces of theatre, that will entertain, challenge and provoke. If you are new to the work of Intermission Youth, you will see Shakespeare retold, in a way you have never seen before, we merge the original text with current London speech and set our plays in the current climate, examining issues facing our youth today. 

I hope you are able to join us at some point during the run and celebrate with us as we look forward to many more years of meaningful work! 

Taming Who? is at the Arcola Theatre from 30 November - 14 December

For more information about Intermission Youth, click here.

Main Photo Credit: Richard Jinman

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