Everyone defines Hamlet as a hero, but I disagree with it. I feel that the problem was not in the society but the problem was with the Hamlet himself,” says a theatre director KK Rajan.
A Shakespeareian tragedy Hamlet was staged here on Thursday at Ravindra Bhavan Auditorium. Directed by KK Rajan, the play was presented by the students of Madhya Pradesh School of Drama (MPSD) of session 2013- 2014.
The students of the session 2013-14 have prepared a theatrical performance as a part of their academic performance which is staged before the theatre lovers. This time the students have prepared one of the known plays written by William Shakespeare Hamlet –The Prince of Denmark.
Translated to Hindi by a renowned Hindi novelist and poet Amrit Rai, the play is deals with the life of Hamlet and the phases come across after his father King of Denmark dies.
The play deals with the struggles and tribulation of Hamlet, the prince of Denmark and the son of deceased King. One cold night when he returns to the palace he finds out that his father, the King is killed and his Uncle, the king’s brother and present successor of the throne King Claudius had married Hamlet’s mother.
Mostly the play dealt with the story of Ophelia and the circumstances, the situation created by her presence in Hamlet’s life. “Hamlet according to me was a self-centered man. He always loved to talk to himself. Most of the times he is seen lonely and due to this loneliness, he imagines things and that is why he often imagines his father’s ghost,” says Rajan.
Elaborating further, he said, “I have tried to modernise the play and related it to the current society.” The sound effect and the dialogue delivery by the young artists were appreciable.
Much hard work was not done on the sets and there was just symbolic set that was related to the Greek pillars and the stairs where Hamlet talked to himself.
Moreover Hamlet was defined as the prince from the ‘Dark Age’ and so his costumes were traditional. Further, the sensible lighting effect added more zeal in the presentation.