Excluded
St Saviour’s Church, London

MACBETH as a teenage pupil excluded from school for fighting and drug-dealing might seem to stretch the suspension of disbelief too far. But, in the sure hands of director Darren Raymond for Intermission Youth Theatre, it works.
 
Revamps of the Bard’s work by youth theatre companies are nothing new. From Michael Bogdanov’s gripping TV documentary Shakespeare on the Estate some 25 years ago to more recent hip-hop productions, the plays have been adapted, peeled back, filleted and served up in a myriad of formats.
 
Raymond’s passion for Shakespeare shines through in a production tackling the issues around exclusion, whose protagonists are all named after Shakespeare’s characters. He immersed himself in the canon of work during three years’ study, not at university but while serving a prison sentence.

During an early session with this young cast, he found that all but two had been excluded from school. Some have been affected by knife crime, others were ex-young offenders or in care.
 
The rawness of those experiences are there from the get-go. Not to give any spoilers but theatre-goers should turn up a few minutes early at the venue, a gothic church converted into an excellent theatre space, where a few youngsters in school uniform are initially unobtrusive.

Then a row breaks out and hatred is spat out,  capped by the classic teen insult “your mum.” Immersive theatre does not always hit the mark but this does.

A  huge cast with tremendous energy go on to deliver the 400-year-old verse in a production that grips. There is drama enough in the classroom setting, where anxious youngsters face the grim reality of GCSEs starting to shape their lives.

And there is love, jealousy and grief, with the emotional heft of it all carried with great maturity by the performers.
 
With the everyday reality of fights behind the chicken shop and the threat of a stabbing always lurking, there are many moments when raw emotion segues into a monologue. Othello’s jealousy is very real and Andrew Senesie captures his uncertainty perfectly.
 
Roshana Roberts inhabits the scheming Iago with understated menace as she lures her prey to their destiny and there’s a deft comic turn as Beatrice (Destiny Tola Onisile) and Benedict (Ibrahim Konate) dance through their faux sparring.
 
A stand-out performance comes from Oliver Knight as Hamlet, whose profound grief has turned into belligerence. Even when splenetic, his verse is crystal clear, and we hear very familiar words as if fresh and new.
 
There is a little clunkiness, with a script that is sometimes too prosaic and a few monologues too swiftly delivered.

But the psychological landscape is authentic and there is real talent on the stage.
 
Runs until November 30, box office: intermissionyouththeatre.co.uk