Interview: Shakespeare in the Abbey

Stevie Basaula on performing Shakespeare in Westminster Abbey

Shakespeare’s Globe is returning to Westminster Abbey for the hugely popular Shakespeare in the Abbey, an event originally conceived by founding Artistic Director Mark Rylance. Before it plays host to the King’s coronation, audiences are invited to explore the iconic sacred space for a promenade performance, as a cast of actors perform extracts from some of Shakespeare’s most famous plays and sonnets. 

Darren Raymond, Artistic Director of Intermission Youth Theatre, will direct a company of actors, many of whom are Intermission graduates, including Stevie Basaula (best known as Isaac Baptiste on EastEnders).

Intermission use Shakespeare and theatre to help transform disadvantaged young people living in deprivation and experiencing high levels of anti-social behaviour, family breakdown, dependency and criminality. They use Shakespeare as a mirror to young people’s lives to explore challenging issues such as knife crime, gang violence, peer pressure, jealousy, rage and relationships.

Stevie Basaula took some time out to answer to few questions about how he found himself in acting.

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What attracted you to acting? Did you study drama at school?

I was 20 and at a point where I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with myself. I just knew I had to do something that I felt was respectable and was going to get me away from my environment in South London. 

At the time there were a few films out that was about youth culture in London, and I remember them always sticking out to me because the characters were often people I recognised from my community, and they were being played by people who looked like me but were not ever seen much on screen. 

The moment I made that connection, I felt like it was possible to be one of those people and tell similar stories. It was very much a lightbulb moment in front of the TV. 

The only thing is I didn’t know where to start, nor did I have any experience. Although it was always the lesson I looked forward to the most at school, I didn’t study drama seriously and nobody I knew was in the industry. So as time went on it seemed more and more like a pipe dream. 

How did you come across Intermission Youth and their Artistic Director Darren Raymond?

A few months later I found myself doing a plastering course but I just didn’t have the love for it. I dropped out the course and started searching again. By this time a childhood friend of mine had enrolled at Intermission Youth Theatre. I had told her I wanted to be an actor and she told me that a person from the youth theatre was on TV. That’s all I needed to hear! I begged her to bring me along and she introduced me to Darren.

Darren let me participate in the Saturday workshop and at the end he pulled me aside and encouraged me to keep coming. I remember him saying to me that it would be free to attend and the only thing he needed from me was commitment. That was perfect for me because I had no money. Less than a year later I got my first agent and started working, and it’s been a labour of love ever since. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.

You’ve performed at the Abbey before. What was it like?

Acting in the Abbey was a little nerve racking at first. It’s huge in there and you’re just trying not to get lost. It’s so rich and full of history. I felt an eeriness and when I started leaning into it, I felt like it helped to bring the work to life and gave me a deeper sense of connection to Shakespeare’s words and my character at the time. I’m hoping this time it will bring more of the same. 

Working with Mark Rylance was a special moment too. I got so much from watching him play. He has a childlike quality that I saw and continue to see whenever I watch him. It’s something I always try to remind myself of whenever I feel nervous or unsure about the work. I can be quite intense and very serious about it at times because I want to get it right so badly – especially then. But I think that is more about ego. Watching Mark makes it seem like it’s just about playing, which is why I think he’s so great at it. Remove the ego and just play. 

Any plans post-EastEnders?

My plans post-EastEnders are the same as my plans were pre-EastEnders, and that’s just to keep making my family proud. Hopefully I get to do that through the work and by telling stories that resonate and inspire.

I want to have fun too! There’s so much I want to explore as an actor. I want to be a superhero and backflip from the Empire State Building! I’ve got pictures of me dressed up as Spiderman when I was a kid and when I think back to those times, I was acting then but we just called it playing. 

There’s also content that I want to put out into the world. I’ve got all these ideas living inside of me that I’m fighting to get out but I just need the time and resources. Darren has always encouraged me to direct and write. I’m writing at the moment and no doubt one day I’ll direct too, but right now I’m just taking my time and trying to do the best I can with the characters that I’m fortunate to have in front of me. 

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This is a syndicated interview kindly provided by Shakespeare Globe.

Shakespeare In The Abbey plays 29 – 31 March, with performances each day at 6.30 and 8.15. Further information and bookings can be found here.