First glimpse of the First Folio

Imagine yourself in a room full of Shakespeare lovers, standing witness to a 1623 copy of Mr. William Shakespeare's comedies, histories and tragedies, revered as the First Folio. Now imagine theatre veteran Alyque Padamsee's impassioned voice injecting life into a soliloquy from Hamlet... or perhaps Othello. If the idea fascinates you, there's more.

Thanks to a lovely educational initiative by the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) and the British Council, the coming months will see Mumbaikars experience a series of Shakespeare-inspired events, from creative writing workshops encouraging modern retelling of the Bard's plays to a performance of Sunil Shanbhag's Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon, an adaptation of All's Well That Ends Well. Starting January 20 at the Curator's Gallery in CSMVS, 'What's in a Name? Shakespeare's First Folio in Mumbai' can be described as a chain of events aimed at pushing the envelope for a range of artistic mediums like performance art, literature, music and even digital content. The First Folio itself will be on display, courtesy the British Council, which has partnered with the British Library to bring the text to Mumbai to commemorate the Bard's 400th death anniversary in 2016.

Set to continue till March 8, the event promises to engage Mumbai's student community in dramatic productions and literary workshops. But scholars and amateur enthusiasts alike — anyone willing to pay the standard museum entry fee — can treat themselves to guided tours of the exhibition, along with acts by art troupes like the Symphony Orchestra of India.

Although some of Shakespeare's plays were published in the quarto format prior to 1623, the First Folio, a compilation of 36 plays, was historically established to be the single reliable source for most of the Bard's plays, barring Pericles, Prince of Tyre, and of course, his lost works.

"The idea is to make Shakespeare, whose works have pervaded every aspect of Indian art, accessible through a range of interactive mediums," shares Bilwa Kulkarni, Assistant Curator, Education, CSMVS. But why plan exercises that recontextualise the works of the greatest writer in the English language? "Well, the pleasures of a Shakesperean play cannot be contained in rote learning, can it?" Kulkarni reasons fairly. Kulkarni's description of the preparations indicates that the museum is ready to throw open its doors to a crowd that's delightfully diverse. So move over academic meditations over iambic metaphors, it's time to socialise with Shakespeare!