Ricky Dukes
Director, Practitioner, Teacher & Artistic Director
Ricky is an award winning (fringe report best artistic director), neurodiverse, working class theatre director from Sedgley, near Dudley in the West Midlands.
Ricky's passion is making classical (from ancient Greek to Restoration), epic (politically charged international outlook) & ensemble (inspired by Joan Littlewood, Peter Brook & Bertolt Brecht) work accessible to hard reach communities and those who experience barriers to such work, especially those from low socioeconomic backgrounds.
His work challenges traditional assumptions & stereotypes surrounding classical text & plays, working collaboratively as part of an ensemble, learning from and with other creatives & performers.
He is the founding & current artistic director of Lazarus Theatre Company.
Horrendous school photograph of Ricky aged 14 at a student at Dormston School
THE MACBETHS
This Project
I need the space and time to work with co-collaborator Dramaturgue / Writer Sarah Dustagheer to workshop with performers from Dudley our new play ‘The Macbeths’.
Working with YP (Year 10) from Dormston Secondary School, Sedgley (representative of key future target audience) to gain vital info on their lived experience & relationship with Shakespeare via Focus Group & to gain response on a 90 minute Sharing of new play via Feedback Session. This new play should speak to and of them, includes representative casting and specific language / reference update such as local slang, speech patterns and musicality.
Also using Sharing to secure future West Midlands partners (venues, arts & community orgs including Warwick Arts Centre, RSC, Dudley Council) for future tour (2029)
Project Aim
Create a compelling, engaging new Shakespeare play for YP who currently don’t engage with live theatre / performance for future tour
What is 'The Macbeths'
A thrilling new play co-conceived & co-written between Sarah Dustagheer & Ricky Dukes using Shakespeare's epic tragedy Macbeth's and it's original text, but adapted for a contemporary working class audience.
Set now and in The Macbeth's bedroom this contemporary and striking new piece examines Shakespeare's famous couple as working class people, sure they may reach the heights of King and Queen but they start out as you or I.
Using midland slang, pronunciation, rhythm and meter this new piece is set to tour to non traditional performance spaces across the Midlands from 2029.
Work to date
-3 ACE Funded Making Shakespeare Accessible Projects: (YPDance) 2024, (YP Tech) 2024 & (YA Puppets) 2025 - as part of my commitment to make Shakespeare accessible to YP I have dedicated myself to working with YP, learning what they want and in a way they want it.
-2 Self funded concept & writing workshop 2024 & Dramaturgy workshops & completed script 2025 - dedicating substantial time and resources to ensure this project has the right ingredients to make a difference to target audiences now and in the future.
Before this ACE funded project begins
-Casting local West Midlands based actors
-Continued relationship with YP from Dormston school
People & Partners
Sarah Dustagheer
Dr Sarah Dustagheer is a member of Shakespeare’s Globe’s Architecture Research Group, Book Review editor for Shakespeare Bulletin and a member of the editorial board for the Revels Play Companion Library (Manchester University Press).
Sarah researches playwriting, performance and theatre space in early modern London, as well as contemporary Shakespearean performance. She is the author of Shakespeare’s Two Playhouses: Repertory and Theatre Space at the Globe and Blackfriars, 1599-1613 (Cambridge University Press, 2017), which was shortlisted for Shakespeare’s Globe Book Award 2018. She is the co-author of Shakespeare in London (Bloomsbury, 2014) and co-editor (with Gillian Woods) of Stage Directions and the Shakespearean Stage (Bloomsbury, 2017). Her essays on early modern playwriting and theatre space and contemporary Shakespearean performance have appeared in Shakespeare Jahrbuch, Literature Compass, Cahiers Élisabéthains and Shakespeare Bulletin.
School Partner: Dormston School
Dormston is a large secondary school with over 1100 students in years 7 to 11. It is situated in the heart of Sedgley, near Dudley in the West Midlands and we are honoured to be a part of, and support our local community. Dormston has a long and proud tradition, having been established in 1935 and originally consisting of a single two-storey building. We have grown considerably since those early days but still place the same emphasis on providing quality education for every student. We believe that ‘Knowledge Is Strength.’
Our vision “aims to inspire confident, motivated students who have a passion for learning and are fully equipped to contribute to society” and we expect every pupil to commit to our core values of:
Effort, Knowledge, Respect, Responsibility, Resilience
Producer of future production: Lazarus Theatre Company
Lazarus Theatre Company is an award-winning ensemble, reimagining and revitalising classic plays in visual, visceral and vibrant productions.
Lazarus Mission.
-For the classical canon to be explored and experienced in politically charged and theatrically daring ensemble productions
-Challenge traditional or received perceptions of classical plays through adaptation, casting, design, experience and collaborations
-Demonstrate the benefits of working collaboratively, as part of an ensemble
-Be representative of our community by casting a richly diverse and inclusive range of artists
-Remove barriers to live theatre by accessible ticketing schemes, accessible performance schedule, access performances and streaming
-Work with partners to create long lasting impact amongst our community on and off stage
-Extend opportunities for training, learning and for people to get involved
Glossary
Audio Plan
A digital document referencing every sound or music file, cues, application and equipment for every beat of a production
Set design floor plan
Design layout of where physical scenery would be positioned. Often marked on the floor with LX tape when rehearsal furniture is being used and working out spatial relationships and proximities. Acts a blueprint for creative communication and charting the productions movement.
Supporting Letter
"What a fantastic opportunity for our Young People, particularly that former pupil Ricky is returning to his Secondary school to pass on so much of his experience, it's going to be fantastically inspirational for our young people"
Mrs Elliott, Deputy Head, Dormston School
Data bank
Dudley YP made up of
-72.4% White
-11% Asian / Asian British
-8.3% Mixed / Duel Background
-4.1% Black / Black British
-28.7% of Dudley YP in low income families compared to 19.8% across England
-55% of Dudley YP meet expected Key Stage 2 standards
(Source: Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council 2024)
Making Shakespeare Accessible
Since 2020 Ricky has made it his mission to explore and interrogate different storytelling methods to engage community's, particularly Young People with Shakespeare.
If we can crack the barriers between our National Playwright and underserved / underrepresented communities, we can open up the whole of the early modern literature cannon and engage all with our rich, diverse and exciting cultural heritage.
Since 2020 Ricky has explored the XR Tech, Digital Tech, use of Puppetry & Dance / Movement potential of removing barriers, his findings feeding into his own creative practice, Lazarus Theatre Company productions on stage and his collaborators and wider networks creative field.
Past ACE Funded Projects
Puppetry Exploration
Exploring the artistic and accessibility potential of using visual storytelling methods i.e. puppetry to engage younger audiences (aged 6+) with their very first experience of Shakespeare.
Puppetry will be used to physicalise the characters of the Fairies: Peaseblossom, Moth, Cobweb, and Mustardseed from practical text: Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Findings from this project will be directly transferred into future full scale production in summer 2025.
Dance / Movement R&D
Exploring different styles of dance, movement and physical theatre to breakdown barriers by creating a physical & visual language.
Diverse styles such as hip-hop, ballet, contemporary & jazz.
Using practical text from Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.
Digital Tech R&D
An exploration into how digital tech, particularly live camera, monitors & projection can enhance audience / performer relationship.
Using practical text from Marlowe's Doctor Faustus and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.