
Shanty Productions is an independent film production company, co-founded by Rakie Ayola and Adam Smethurst, and committed to producing drama that speaks to a diverse audience. Its first production is a full text version of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a 400-year-old stage play adapted for the screen to reflect and reach multicultural Britain today.

Commenting on the driving force behind Shanty Productions, Co-Founder Rakie Ayola said, “It is essentially the realisation that Adam and I could put our money where our mouths are, channel our skills and produce the kind of work we want to see. Work that combines our love of Shakespeare with our need to represent the world as we see it – as we’d like our daughters and their contemporaries to see it.”

Lead actor Sheila Atim added, “We’re not trying to dumb Shakespeare down; we’re not trying to make it what it isn’t so people can digest it. We’re staying absolutely true to what it is. We’re just bringing it forward to a time when people may feel like they can connect with it more.”
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