Rock 'n' role

"You really need to hold your stomachs in - yes, you can do it. Right, let's go - five, six, seven, eight." Director Phil Garner is rehearsing a number with the opening line: "Can you hear the music play in your soul?', which the Musical Youth Company of Oxford are thumping out with considerable gusto - or so it seems to me. But director Garner isn't satisfied: "What do I do to put the umph in it?" he asks forcefully.

The show is RJ - A Rock Musical, with words and music by Joy Ardy and Andy Milburn. It's a modern take on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and has been considerably revamped since it first saw the light of day at Charters School, Ascot, in 1999.

"After the original performances were over, and having left it for a couple of years, I had another look at the score," said Andy Milburn. "I felt there were some sections that could be shortened, some that could be improved, and even some characters that deserved to have a song of their own to sing."

We are talking after the evening's RJ rehearsal, which has involved Andy in energetically beating the living daylights out of a Cherwell School piano.

"I like to keep rehearsals fun. I always aim to have a bit of a laugh and a cajole as we go along."

But turning Romeo and Juliet into a musical presents some formidable challenges. Shakespeare's play contains some of the most famous speeches ever written in the English language, for instance.

"In the original version we did at Ascot, we had to cut a lot of the speeches because of time. Originally, we actually cut the Queen Mab speech, and put it into the last verse of a song. That was one of the things that was on the list to change for this production, because people did feel that it was quite a powerful speech, and one of the most famous ones. So we have put it back.

"One of Friar Lawrence's speeches in the second act: A pack of blessings lights upon thy back', tells a good portion of the story, so it was very important to put that back in too.

"As for the songs, Joy Ardy and I decided where they should be. Then we looked at the original play, took what we could from it, and made it into lyrics. So a lot of the songs are the continuation of a scene, set to music. That was the way we found to deal with the pace of the musical."

But Romeo and Juliet is hardly the jolliest story ever written. How did Andy make it appetising to an audience that might never have experienced Shakespeare before?

"It's all to do with deciding where the big songs should be. So the first act ends with a big gospel number, where everybody is getting married in secret. Everything up to that point is actually quite jolly - we've tried to put as much humour as we can into the first act.

"Then you get hit with the powerful scenes in the second half - the scene you've just seen being rehearsed, for instance, where Mercutio then Tybalt die. That's a good place to bring in the darker aspect of the story."

That darker aspect involves a bitter quarrel between the Montague and Capulet families. The story develops from the fact that Romeo, Montague's son, gatecrashes a party at the Capulets, and is immediately captivated by Juliet, Capulet's daughter. In RJ - A Rock Musical, Romeo is played by Anthony Ilott, and Juliet by Laura Chaitow. I asked them what they thought of each other in real life when they first met.

"I'd never really spoken to Anthony before the auditions," Laura said, laughing. "Now we are actually quite good friends." Anthony is also laughing: "That's debatable really. Seriously, because this is my first year with MYCO, I came in not really knowing anybody. But we've had one or two socials, and we've got to know each other quite well. It's good."

So, as a newcomer, was Anthony surprised to land a major role straight away?

"I was immensely surprised. I had this massive smile on my face for about a week. I expected just to be in the background, and go along with everything. But things turned out differently!"

And Laura, did she think she had done well at her audition?

"I couldn't tell. I'd worked really, really hard beforehand, because it's my third year with MYCO, and I was desperate for a part. But having watched other people's auditions through a window, I thought everyone else looked really good. You can never tell until you find out."

Both Laura and Anthony are 16, perhaps younger than Shakespeare would have expected his leading actors to be. I wondered if it had been a challenge, bringing on all the emotions involved.

"It's my biggest acting role ever, so learning the lines has been quite a challenge," Laura said. "At rehearsals, it all runs very quickly, so you need to be on top form."

Anthony added: "I've done some Shakespeare before, in drama lessons for instance, but not at this sort of level. I had forgotten how many changed words there are. I found myself talking to my parents: Ah, thee was great today.' It was a bit weird."

Anthony laughed again as I reminded him that the vital point was that Romeo and Juliet should really fancy each other something rotten.

"That's the hardest part. Seriously, it's not as difficult for a guy, because you fancy girls all the time. Once you get into the role, and understand who the person is, you discover what Romeo sees in Juliet." Laura said: "It's all right, because Anthony has become a really close friend. If I despised him, then I might struggle with it a bit!"

Working on RJ - A Rock Musical has given both Laura Chaitow and Anthony Ilott a taste for the professional stage. As for the show's audiences, does writer-composer Andy Milburn worry that he may be offending purists, or even school drama teachers, by turning one of Shakespeare's most famous plays into a rock musical?

"We had excellent feedback from the original version, so I dare say that Shakespeare essay marks actually went up. And we had people coming back to see the show a second and third time during the original run. So I encourage both purists and drama teachers to come and see for themselves."

Musical Youth Company of Oxford's production of RJ - A Rock Musical runs at St Edward's School, Oxford, from April 3-7. Tickets: 0774 740 0895, or online at www.myco.org.uk