Tell us something about the plot of the Fired by Hamlet. How did you chalk out something so lighthearted from a tragedyIJ
It’s not only lighthearted. You can find a lot of tragedy in our play. An Indian theatre company is leaving home in hope for a better life. They let all behind them. And they don’t know what will happen in Denmark. And at the end they loose the game. Hamlet will not hire them. And they dont know why. Because they gave their best. You can laugh about that. But you can also feel sad about them.
Is it set in the 17th century, like the original playIJ
Not really. It’s out of time. But it’s a time without iphones and computers. No engines. They have to travel on a sailing ship to denmark. But it could be also today. When you look at some places in Delhi you can develop shops with typewriting-machines in it. Some of these machines are from end of 19th century. I don’t know who is using them. But they still exist.
Also in the play, Hamlet’s friend Rosencrantz hires the group of travelling Commedia to present The Mouse Trap. Is it the same one as Agatha Christie’sIJ
No. It has nothing to to do with Agatha Christie’s crime plot.
What are the famous dialogues that Hamlet deliversIJ
“Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue; but if you mouth it as many of our players do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor saw the air too much with your hands...” Here, Hamlet is speaking to the actors. He advices them how to perform in a good way. But they don’t understand them because they have their own tradition and their own taste. They perform not in Hamlets way. Therefore they are breaking his rules. And breaking rules is the beinning of Clowning. Clowns are always breaking rules. When they see a button on which is written: Don’t touch! You can be rest assured that they will touch it.
There is also pantomime in the play. Are there other aspects of theatre that you have included in Fired by HamletIJ
Yes we have a lot of aspects in our play. A lot of skills of the comedia dell’arte and slapstick, but we are working also with a kind of Greek choir. It’s very physical. But we are using speech, too.