Six city community champions will join the Royal Shakespeare Company's cast as they bring Julius Caesar to Norwich Theatre Royal next month.
They have been picked from city groups and charitable causes for their contribution to the community and will appear as part of Norwich's Community Chorus.
They will be integrated into musical elements of the production and appear as an otherworldly presence alongside a number of the characters in the play, such as the Soothsayer, who famously warns Caesar to "beware the Ides of March".
Among the six is Rebecca White, chief executive of homeless prevention social enterprise Your Own Place, and Alice Evans, who moved to the UK from Sierra Leone 15 years ago.
The six people are Rebecca White, Alice Evans, Jeneseka Alexander, Melissa Bowling, Rio Montana Topley and Lucy Dalgleish. (Image: Norwich Theatre Royal)
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Alice, a single parent with three children, is engaged with her local church, helping women and children to live healthier lives and supporting community activities.
Also chosen is Jeneseka Alexander, a 46-year-old trans woman living in Norwich.
She is a practitioner working with trans, non-binary and gender-diverse young people, and a counsellor at an eating disorder charity.
The six people have made tremendous efforts for the arts in the city (Image: Norwich Theatre Royal)
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Melissa Bowling has been chosen for her work as hospitality operations manager at Norwich Theatre Royal.
Rio Montana Topley is a recent theatre graduate who currently works at Age UK Norwich and Lucy Dalgleish teaches performing arts at Ormiston Victory Academy in Costessey, staging a big production every December.
They will appear as the chorus in Shakespeare's famous tragedy (Image: Norwich Theatre Royal)
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Sam Dawson, head of creative engagement at Norwich Theatre Royal, said: “This group are all inspiring people and community leaders together.
“They combine for an amazing and influential group that will no doubt add another dimension to this drama.”
The project has been made possible due to Norwich Theatre being an associate partner theatre of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).
Julius Caesar is at the Theatre Royal between Tuesday, June 6 and Saturday, June 10.
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