NSD’s second year students staged Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. UK Banerjee learns from director Abdul latif Khatan how he recreated the Elizabethan age on stage
Romeo and Juliet, penned by the Bard of Avon when he was in his early 30s, is a tragedy — conceived in the1591-1595 inter-regnum and published in 1598 — about two young “star-crossed” lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare’s most popular plays during his lifetime and, along withHamlet, remains one of the most frequently performed plays till today. Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity: with the plot based on an Italian tale, The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet of 1567. Shakespeare’s own use of comedy and tragedy to heighten tension; his subtle expansion of minor characters; his highly dramatic structure (especially effects, such as, switching between characters and utilisation of sub-plots to embellish the story): have all been admired down the ages.
Romeo and Juliet, recently show-cased by the second-year students of NSD under the baton of Abdul latif Khatana, followed faithfully the Bard’s original text, complete with incidence of sub-plots and prominence of minor characters. The bloody duels — at the flimsiest of pretexts — between the Montagues and the Capulets; the masked ball-room dance; the romantic attraction between the teenaged duo from opposite camps without their realising the lurking menace in the budding relationship; the killing of Romeo’s favoured companion, leading to yet another fatal duel eliminating Juliet’s dear cousin; the kiss sealing love and the immediately-following, secret nuptial and its consummation; the unsuspecting parents still planning marriage with a “suitable boy”; and the good friar’s desperate bid to cement the fait-accompli wedlock: are all events that follow each other at break-neck speed. Death lurks at every corner and Juliet’s stratagem — of feigning a 48-hour “death” awaiting the groom to arrive and take her away — fails ever so tragically, with the love-stricken youths struck down finally by fate.
What works splendidly in the well-known sequence of events is the eloquent mise en scene: the lightning change of sets against the backdrop of a colossal fort; the authentic Elizabethan attires; sword-fights feigning the Manipuri thang-ta martial arts; classical Western music providing the atmospheric effects; and the Shakespearean poetry coming glowingly through the blended Hindustani dialogue. The acting style remains old-worldly and admirably archaic: with the young cast doing praise-worthy justice to a theatre of by-gone era. Surprisingly, the characters appear sans any facial make-up, much unlike their counterparts of the Elizabethan times. The Waltz dance is wonderfully synchronised amidst the dramatis personae.
On the whole, it is a good reconnoiter, a near-vintage visualisation of the 16th century ambience.
Excerpts from interaction with the director:
What do you consider to be main attractions of this well-known playIJ
An endearing feature of the play is that the main actions take place on open streets and city-squires. The actions are at both levels: personal as well as public. Juliet almost openly falls head-over for her most prominent enemy. Friar lawrence, who seeks to substitute fraternal love for fracas in order to bring in peace, becomes an almost inadvertent participant in the stream of actions.
What are the major dramatic ploys noticeable hereIJ
Considering that the time-span covers only five days from beginning to end, the incidents almost race with each other on the proscenium stage. Time-intervals, situations, coincidences and mutual impacts play a large role here. In the flow of events, dramatic scenes, characters, themes and language-levels display many refreshing contrasts.
Would you like to summarise the unique Shakespearean spiritIJ
To express it in one word, times often run faster than events. At other points, characters and events overtake times and go literally “fast-forward”!
photos Thyagarajan