They started out in 1992 with nothing but a few good ideas.

Five years later, the Detroit-based troupe of youth actors has created a “mosaic” of creativity that has lasted long enough to push the aspiring thespians into the national spotlight.

The Mosaic Youth Theatre started out as an organization to keep Detroit’s inner-city teen-agers creatively busy after school. With an emphasis on education, the troupe has continued to grow in numbers and competitiveness over the past few years.

“People are fighting each other to become part of this group,” says Gregg Henry, associate professor of theatre. “They’ve gone to Europe and Chicago with the show.”

One of the troupe’s major trademarks is its ability to take a Shakespearean classic and develop it into a piece for the ’90s. The first time Henry saw the group, it was performing a rap and gospel-induced “Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

For Saturday’s performance at Fisher Theater, the group will present “Everybody’s Talkin’,” which is a fresh spin on Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” The adaptation takes the original story’s timeless themes of love, social image and gossip, and combines them with today’s modern entertainment morals.

“I think a definition of a classic is that [the play] continues to speak to a modern audience,” Henry says. “I don’t think [Mosaic Youth Theatre] has an artistic mission of updating Shakespeare. They use this play as a learning tool and think, ‘How can we make this appeal to our audience?'”

But the Mosaic Youth Theatre doesn’t get all its ideas from century-old masterpieces. Henry says the troupe also creates works of its own that center around issues faced by the kids of inner-city Detroit.

“The issues address things like race and diversity,” Henry says.

With bold funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and support from outspoken advocates such as Kevin Spacey and President Bill Clinton, the group has managed to skyrocket from the slums of the inner city to the star-struck stages of Ames.

“Their talent is amazing to watch,” Henry says. “The way they work together is amazing.”