Bold New Take on a Classic

Romeo and Juliet Mash Up
Sherman Cymru, Theatre 2
Sherman 5
Saturday 30th Sept 2013


We are constantly being told that Shakespeare, lauded as the best writer of all time, is still relevant to us in this modern age. When staged with traditional costume and language it can sometimes be hard to decipher this relevance for those who are new to the plays. This original new response to Shakespeare’s words showed exactly why the tale of the star-crossed lovers and their warring families still has a place on our stages in 2013.

Exploring various stage techniques such as film, song and choral work this mash up version of Romeo and Juliet was created and performed by members of the Oasis drama group. Oasis Cardiff aims to help Refugees and Asylum Seekers to integrate into the community of Cardiff by offering workshops in everything from cookery, to bicycle maintenance, to language skills.

Oasis in rehearsal

The mash up project was initiated to provide a response to Sherman Cymru’s upcoming production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Rachael O’Riordan. This is the first of many exciting projects co-ordinated by Sherman Cymru’s Sherman 5 project, which is supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Guy O’Donnell from Sherman 5 has been working with Adamsdown Arts Association (A3) to reach out to groups in the STAR Communities First cluster (Splott, Tremorfa, Adamsdown, Roath) and this is how Oasis got involved with the production.

Theatre director and performer Angharad Evans has been working with the drama group at Oasis for nearly a year, often having to overcome huge language barriers to deliver her workshops. Her cast for this production was made up of individuals from all over the world, many of whom have faced great hardship and struggle both in their native countries and here in Wales. With different faces turning up to sessions each week it was a challenge to create a coherent and meaningful piece.

With just a week in the theatre space, time was short to turn the ideas explored in workshops into a performance open to the public. What resulted was an exciting and surprisingly emotional piece that spanned many cultures and languages whilst still being accessible to all.

A definite highlight of the production was the music. An almost constant accompaniment on guitar added so much emotion to the movement sections and added a sense of natural flow to the separate elements of the piece. The vocal talent in the group was stunning, showcasing traditional songs and lyrics they had penned themselves the group had some very enviable voices. Considering these are members of the public, most with no performing experience at all, they held the audiences’ gaze and commanded our attention.

Beautiful masks added to the drama

One performer really stood out when she came forward from the group and delivered a heartfelt speech about the barriers to love in her homeland of Nigeria. If someone is descended from a slave they are seen as not worthy and are often not allowed to marry those from other backgrounds. This lady fell in love with a man descended from slaves and to be together they had to run away. Their love was more powerful than the outdated laws imposed by their elders. Here the link to the source text was painfully clear, even now many people are restricted by class, background and even colour as to who they can chose to spend their life with. Some don’t even have a choice.

Filmmaker Paul Whitaker also worked with the group to create a stunning video element to compliment the piece. Beautiful scenery from around Cardiff played as recordings of the group members explained what love meant to them. Often the narration would tell of the pain of love, the barriers to love and most importantly the power of love. These disembodied voices really illustrated the hardship that comes when you leave your home for somewhere new. This interesting piece simultaneously explored the themes of Romeo and Juliet whilst highlighting the struggles and the talent of the refugee and asylum seeker communities here in the capital.

I really hope Sherman 5 and A3 will continue to bring such worthwhile productions to ours stages whilst helping new audiences access the arts. The group will continue to work on this piece throughout the coming weeks and will be returning to Sherman Cymru, but this time on the huge stage of Theatre 1, to deliver a performance of their mash up before the final performance of Sherman Cymru's Romeo & Juliet on Saturday 18th October.

Thanks to Paddy Faulkner for the beautiful photographs.

To find out more about Romeo & Juliet Mash up follow @shermancymru and @A3_Arts #rnjmashup.

And check out Adamsdown Arts Association for the latest blog www.a3arts.co.uk

For more on the work Oasis do in the community: click here.

To find out about Sherman Cymru’s Romeo & Juliet follow this link.