A troupe of British actors has brought the work of William Shakespeare to troubled Toronto neighbourhoods, in hopes of steering teens living in the area toward a better life.

This week, former convicts turned professional actors Darren Raymond and Fabian Spencer are participating in a high school drama program called Shakespearience in Toronto, including in areas notorious for drugs, gangs and gun violence.

A simple workshop about the Bard can make a dramatic difference in a teen's life, Raymond said.

"It can be a catalyst for change because Shakespeare is a universal language," he told CBC News. "It relates to people at risk, to youth at risk."

Raymond joined a gang at 13 was in Brixton Prison by 22. Eight months into his sentence, he attended his first Shakespearean workshop.

"When I went back to my cell, when the doors shut, for the first time in eight months, I felt like a human being as opposed to feeling like a criminal," he said.

Spencer, meanwhile, said the emotions, passions and issues present in the Bard's work can be especially relevant to children and youth living in troubled neighbourhoods.

"Children who are neglected or who have family problems or whatever, they're very emotional people. A lot of Shakespeare's plays, they will be able to relate to," he said.

The two actors are in Canada to help launch a Shakespearience after-school program for at-risk youth, an expansion of the initiative started by Toronto's Marvin Karon.

Karon, Shakesperience's artistic co-ordinator, is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, an actor and a drama instructor.

Learning about Shakespeare is difficult, he acknowledged. However, the goal is for students to see they can tackle — and understand — the Bard and that this success can spill over into other aspects of their lives.

"What we hope is [they say] 'If I can do Shakespeare, and I thought that was too difficult, maybe I can do math,' " Karon said.

"They walk away with something that I think, yes absolutely, changes their lives."