Ricky Dukes
Director, Practitioner, Teacher & Artistic Director
Ricky is an award winning (fringe report best artistic director), neurodiverse, working class theatre director from Sedgley in the West Midlands.
Ricky's passion is classical (from ancient Greek to Restoration), epic (politically charged international outlook) & ensemble (inspired by Joan Littlewood, Peter Brook & Bertolt Brecht) work.
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.
Project Headlines
-Creating new cultural content, working in new ways
-Reaching new audiences (young people 6-11)
-Key Partners: Puppet Dir/Des Matt Hutchinson / Invicta Primary School
-Supporting Partners: Lazarus Theatre Company & Old Royal Naval College, Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation, Little Angel Theatre
-Consulting Partners: Drama Matters & National Drama
-Sharing to understand what Participants (target audience), peers & partners think
-Project employs 22 Creative Practitioners
-For future, full-scale, new ensemble production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream(MSND) produced by Lazarus Theatre Company(LTC) in new outdoor theatre at the Old Royal Naval College(ORNC), Greenwich
Glossary
- CSSF Observation of practical Shakespeare session with YP
Along with Key Creative Practitioners I will observe a 90 minute session delivered by CSSF with YP to see how they engage participants. Particular focus: language used, activity delivery & YP's reaction / response
Data bank
-Since 2010 GCSE Arts subjects declined by 47% & A Level declined by 29%
(Campaign for the Arts)
-YP Participant survey ranked (as most likely to engage them with Shakespeare):
1. Use of Technology ie video games, social media (tiktok)
2.Visual storytelling ie puppetry
3.Use more modern language i.e translate
4.Immersive theatre ie audience in the show
5.Music / Song ie put songs in it
(NLPG-00682579)
-Our Greenwich community made up of:
44.3% Global Majority
17.7% Access Users
21% Low socioeconomic
24.9% Under age of 19
(Greenwich Census 2021)
-LTC teacher network survey found teenagers have a “low engagement” &
“negative relationship” with Shakespeare & suggest: "If YP experienced Shakespeare at Primary school this would improve"
(LTC annual teacher survey)
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 & 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.
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.
Past Projects
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.
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.