Intermission Youth brings Julius Caesar Remixed to the Omnibus Theatre in Clapham for a four-week run this November, adapted by Darren Raymond and directed by Stephanie Badaru.
Intermission Youth presents Julius Caesar Remixed at the Omnibus Theatre in Clapham, running from Wednesday 11 November to Saturday 5 December 2026. The adaptation is by Darren Raymond, the charity’s artistic director, and it is directed by Stephanie Badaru. Press night is Friday 13 November at 7.30pm.
The production moves Shakespeare’s political tragedy into a modern secondary school and stages it as a play-within-a-play. As the students rehearse the text, the boundary between the rehearsal and their own lives gives way, and the story takes in knife crime, postcode rivalries and real tragedies. Raymond keeps the iambic pentameter of the original and sets contemporary street speech alongside it. It is one of 15 Shakespeare remixes he has written; he received Shakespeare’s Globe’s Sam Wanamaker Award in 2025 and a National Diversity Award in 2021.
“Shakespeare didn’t write for elite audiences, his language was the raw street vernacular of his day,” Raymond said. “When you listen to the incredible rhythm, wordplay and lyrical sharpness used by today’s youth, the poetic cadence matches the Elizabethans perfectly. This remix isn’t about diluting the text, it’s about unlocking its raw power.”
Seventeen performers make up the company, drawn from this year’s cohorts of the charity’s drama training programme and making their public debut in the production. Some roles are double-cast, with those actors alternating performances. Six members of the cohort join the backstage team as well, working alongside the professionals in costume, stage management, set design and lighting.
Badaru was in Intermission Youth’s first cohort in 2008 and made her directorial debut last year on Comedy of Errors Remixed. Julius Caesar was the first play she performed with the company. “Stepping into the director’s chair for the second time to guide this talented fledgling cast through this new production is incredibly special,” she said.
The creative team includes associate director Federay Holmes, an associate artist at Shakespeare’s Globe; set and costume designer Ruth Badila, who won the Linbury Prize for stage design in 2021; lighting designer Rajiv Pattani, whose credits include Darkling for Actors Touring Company and the Bush Theatre and Foal at the Finborough Theatre; and projection designer Cheng Keng, an Offies design winner for Loop in 2025/26. Sound design is by Luka Burton, a graduate of the charity’s Younger’s programme, mentored by Pierre Flasse. Lilli Lehmann produces.
The production follows Tartuffe (Remixed) at the Marylebone Theatre, Raymond’s adaptation for the Intermission Ensemble, the charity’s graduate arm, in which long-time trustee Mark Rylance performed alongside its members; the critics’ notices for that production were gathered here earlier this month. Intermission Youth was founded in 2008 by Rob and Janine Gillion with Raymond as artistic director, and has since worked with more than 8,000 young people aged 11 to 30 and over.
Performances at the Omnibus Theatre, 1 Clapham Common Northside, London SW4 0QW, are Tuesday to Friday at 7.30pm, with Saturday performances at 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Tier 1 tickets are £25, or £23 for concessions; tier 2 tickets are £23, or £18 for concessions; and preview seats are £10. The age guidance is 10+.
