Sir Ian puts The Bard to a beat

He was invited to the Limehouse Causeway club to launch an open art competition in association with the Narrow Street Fete.

He said: “What they did there was great. Shakespeare is all based on beat, rhythm and rhyme, and all those things that rappers deal with.
“The range of activities here is astonishing, from cliff jumping to rapping. Looking back at my own childhood, I was very dependent on school for extra-curricular activities such as acting and camping, but all that stopped during the holidays.
“I don’t think you should think of places like this as just a way of keeping kids off the streets.
“Every young person has a right to develop their potential.”

Sir Ian moved into Narrow Street 30 years ago, and is one of a cluster of famous residents who have seen Limehouse develop from a deprived area to a fashionable address. Fellow actor Steven Berkoff and politician David Owen have lived nearby for several decades.

He said: “I came for the river and the view out of my back window, but my neighbours have always been involved with the local community, which in those days was a bit more fragmented than it is now.
“It was very run-down. Tower Hamlets didn’t know what it was doing, and the locals felt they weren’t in charge of their own environment.
“Now the newcomers, yuppies and people who have paid a fortune for accommodation round here should feel a duty to pay back the local people who would be here whether there was big business nearby or not.
“I certainly don’t do as much as I could to join in.”

Sir Ian did get involved in the first Narrow Street Fete, opening the festivities in Ropemakers Field in 2006. The event will take place for the third time on August 25.

He said: “The fete’s a very good way for the community to open itself up and show what’s going on. It’s a very disparate group, with a lot of rich people and poor people, and a lot of dogs and kids.
“I like nothing better than walking round Ropemakers Field and seeing people chatting. I also go to the cinema and the gym in Canary Wharf.”

Sir Ian has balanced a distinguished run of Shakespearean roles with a high-profile Hollywood career, which includes turns as revolutionary mutant Magneto in the X-Men franchise and Gandalf in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

Having completed a sell-out run as King Lear, he’s returning to the role of Gandalf in JR Tolkien’s The Hobbit, directed by Guillermo Del Toro. It is set to hit cinemas in 2010.

He said: “People are always telling me how much they loved the films.
“Fortunately Tolkien wrote another book and Gandalf is in it. I’m delighted. I’ve never met more people than I have through being Gandalf and Magneto. But it’s probably them people want to meet rather than me.”

Snappers and rappers are among the creative folk competing for prizes at Limehouse Youth Club this month.
Club operators City Gateway will announce the winner of its first art competition on Monday when a panel of judges assess a range of entries including raps, photos, paintings and animation.
A group of 10 winners will enjoy an outdoor pursuits day trip with quad biking and jet skiing, while 10 runners-up will receive vouchers.
The club’s youth participation manager Suzi Stride said: “It’s a way of bringing various parts of the community together. Tapping into the potential of young people is a big part of what we do here.”
James Blake, 21, said: It’s about building a relationship. Some started off quite disruptive, and now they’re chilled out.”