Rupesh Tillu’s Madbeth is an interactive comedy inspired by Shakespeare’s classic. He tells Pallavi Gupta that he is on a mission to present a comic version of famous tragic stories
Fair is foul and foul is fair, hover through the fog and filthy air’ — the witches’ chant from the Act I of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is indeed the theme of the play. It means that whatever is fair to the common man is foul to the witches and to the people related to them. And whatever is foul to the common man is fair to them. As per the story, Macbeth did all that he had formerly considered as foul. As per the truth goes, fair is fair but the witches find it foul as they hate everything that is fair and good. They would find a beautiful woman ugly because she puts them to shame and an ugly woman beautiful probably because she resembled to them. Everything that is fair is foul to them, and everything that is foul is fair to them.
Thespian Rupesh Tillu twisted this theme to suit his comedy drama, Madbeth. As the title suggests, the play is a comic take on the famous tragedy.
Madbeth is a devised theatre piece and a one-man show. It has been played for a wide range of audience in Europe, Israel, West Bank and India. The play was invited by UNESCO Centre for Peace to tour in USA (2012). The performance was a special pick at the Stockholm Fringe festival 2013. Prague Shakespeare Company hosted the performance (2013) at the National Theatre, Czech Republic.
The director explained, “There are several layers in the play. The story revolves around Beth and Banquo. Beth, heartbroken after the murder of his girlfriend is to perform Macbeth for the first time with his imaginary friend Banquo. Beth is doing so as per the advice of his doctor-cum-drama therapist, Dr William. Beth is schizophrenic and does so to heal his wound. He is Beth and he is mad, therefore the title Madbeth. The second layer of my play is inspired by the Shakespeare’s classic, Macbeth.”
Madbeth is played by Rupesh and the rest of the characters in the drama are members of the audience. “I want to offer people something that attracts them to theatre. I choose random people for the role of lady Macbeth, Duncan, and that is how the whole plot moves forward. Theatre is competing with YouTube, cinema, social networking sites and all other sources that offer entertainment. The experience of interactive theatre is what I aim to provide. You cannot touch and feel the actor via any other medium but theatre. Engaging the audience in my plays is the best way through which I can offer this experience. If the theatre is interactive then it is the experience of a lifetime for the audience,” said Rupesh.
For Rupesh, tragedy makes for best comedy. He said, “I believe comedy is an important part of tragedy, one just needs to find it.”
Rupesh believes in experimentation that can challenge the creator as well as theatre as an art form. Theatre exists to bring a change in the society and this can only be achieved by constant testing through trial and error method. He does not limit himself to the understanding of what he reads but goes beyond to give it his own interpretation without changing the structure.
He shared, “I improvise as per the requirement. My improvisation depends on how people react to everything that is happening at the monet on stage. Shakespeare is universal. With his plays you can do a comedy with a tragedy and a tragedy with a comedy. This scope is rare. There are not a lot of writers whose writings can be twisted as per your interpretation.”
Rupesh now plans to make more comic adaptations of tragic plays.