Comedy Of Errors

It's a chaotic scene, to say the least. Three exuberant characters are bouncing from one end of the stage to the other, at times even jumping headlong into the audience. But apparently there is order in this chaos, witnessed at the rehearsals of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) by Scene Stealers. The play is currently on at the Kamani Auditorium in New Delhi.

After three hit Shakespearean movies in a row, both Indian and global audiences are tuned into the works of this playwright. However, this play which whizzes through all the bard's works _ histories, comedies and tragedies _ in two hours, with a 15 minute break in between, offers a totally different perception of Shakespeare. No longer is the bard going to be seen as a difficult to interpret poet and writer, who wrote tragedies which sounded similar, and comedies that were alike, at times turning out wonderful plays, at times poor _ as in the histories. As director Vivek Mansukhani, who also stars in the play, says, "Shakespeare has emerged as the popular man of the millennium." It may seem ironic since the playwright doesn't belong to this millennium, but as long as his formulae work nobody is complaining.

 

Scene Stealers have taken their script from the Reduced Shakespeare Company's version, which was nominated for the 1997 Olivier Award for best new comedy, and is still a big hit with the London theatre going crowd in West End. The three member cast, which besides Mansukhani has Giles Hewitt and Sukesh Arora, will switch wigs and elaborate costumes, changing gender without batting an eyelid, taking the audience on a roller coaster ride of all the 37 plays in five acts. The audience will be fully involved with a surprise or two in store for them. Some might even land up on the stage spouting impromptu Shakespearean lines. With Titus Andronicus being performed as a cookery show, a short Romeo romancing a very tall Juliet and death treated as a laughing matter, this is slated as a riotous comedy.

Mansukhani promises as much, "The play is full of wilful misreading of names and dialogues, playful puns, clunky female impersonations, clean-cut ribaldry and broad burlesque." Accompanying rap and jazz music should keep the audience tapping their feet. Costumes have been designed by NID graduate Ruchi Mehta, while the props and puppets have been designed by Varun Narain. To add to the humour, the props are deliberately incomplete and creative. For instance, the crown is made of yellow foam, which makes it easy to throw around by the characters, whilst the moon is a torch.

Although Electrolux has sponsored the play, producer, Rachna Sharma rues that sponsors are still difficult to come by. She complains that the yuppie college going crowd would rather be seen at PVR, than sit through a serious, intellectual exchange. "Theatre has changed a lot, it is not meant for the intelligentsia alone, anybody can understand and enjoy contemporary theatre," she argues. According to her, most of the good plays come from Bombay. However she says, "We have plans to make this a travelling theatre as and when the money pours in."

Meanwhile theatre-goers in Delhi can lap up this midsummer night's offering.