Reinterpreting Shakespeare... with a humorous twist in the tale
When Shakespeare gave the protagonist of his play Julius Caesar this line, “I am constant as the Northern Star,” the Bard was foretelling the future of his own undying presence in the world of theatre, even 400 years after his death.
His plays, continuously reinterpreted in several languages by various cultures, have stood the test of time. Yet another reinterpretation comes from actor-director Rajat Kapoor, who presents three major tragedies — Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear — and the comedy As You Like It, at The Shakespeare Comedy Theatre Festival, which reaches Delhi for its final bow after touring 10 cities in India.
The cast includes actors Kalki Koechlin and Vinay Pathak, both of whom do cinema and theatre regularly.
In Kapoor’s adaptation, a bunch of clowns reinterpret the plays, taking clowning as a theatrical expression.
Kapoor says, “My first play featuring clowns was C For Clowns. It had nothing to do with Shakespeare. Then I got intrigued by the idea of doing a classical play with clowns. That’s how Hamlet happened in 2008. Then [King] Lear happened four years later... In different plays, the clowns have been used differently.”
Subscribing to the thought that Shakespearean plays are timeless, Kapoor believes that audiences now can still relate to the plots. “The characters and situations of the plays are still relevant,” he says. “The more I understand it, the more I can make the audience understand it.”
Actor Vinay Pathak, who plays a clown in Hamlet, says, “We wanted to deconstruct [the] play — understand the psyche, and show its relevance. [Shakespeare] has left so many things to be interpreted... It’s a challenge to retain the original idea while fooling around.”