Shakespeare experiment in London

LONDON, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Australian director Baz Lurhmann coached a group of teens and young adults with no theatrical experience in a performance of "Romeo and Juliet" in London.

Lurhmann guided the cast -- recruited via leaflets in a London immigrant neighborhood -- to perform the play after four weeks, as an experiment to see if an underprivileged group could understand and communicate Shakespeare, reported the Daily Telegraph.

The British television adventure from "Shine" challenged players from the Afro-Caribbean Harlesden neighborhood to perform the play in the main theater at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in the heart of London's theater district.

The reality-TV-like experience will be broadcast in a two-hour program, "My Shakespeare," Dec 27.

Lurhmann, who directed Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in his movie version of "Romeo and Juliet" in 1996, did most of his guidance via telephone in Australia.

British actor Paterson Joseph was the director of the production.