Mumbai goes Shakespearean

It’s one stage where every theatre artiste would perhaps want to perform. For two of Mumbai’s theatre groups, that wish is about to come true. Theatre enthusiasts Rajat Kapoor’s Hindi version of Twelfth Night and Sunil Shanbag’s Gujarati All’s Well That Ends Well are set to present localised Shakespeare.

This April, Globe To Globe, a part of the World Shakespeare Festival for the London 2012 Festival, will bring to stage 37 of Shakespeare’s plays in 37 languages, from April 21-June 9. Expect to hear Malvolio speak aloud in crisp Hindi: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em.” Or, Countess Rossillion musing in Gujarati: “Love all, trust a few. Do wrong to none.”

All’s Well That Ends Well’s Gujarati adaptation, helmed by Sunil’s Arpana production, will mix live music, acting and dance, in keeping with the style of the Bhangwadi theatre. Atul Kumar’s Company Theatre is set to pay homage to the Bard with a comic adaptation of the Twefth Night, tentatively titled Baaranvi Raat, with a script written by Rajat. Kumar reportedly chose the play because it has all the ingredients of a masala potboiler — from mistaken identities, to gender confusion, lovelorn lovers and a happy ending.

Sunil, on the other hand, took up the play as a challenge. “Festival director Tom Bird got in touch with me last year. The Globe was very interested in a Gujarati production, and since I work in multiple languages they asked me. Though I have acted in Gujarati many years ago, I have never directed a play in Gujarati.”

He adds how he decided to change the location of the play from provincial France, Paris, and Florence in the early 17th century to Saurashtra, Mumbai and Rangoon in 1900. “The French nobility was replaced by the powerful Gujarati mercantile class engaged in trade at that time. Bertram and Helena, the lead characters, became Bharatram and Heli in our script by Mihir Bhuta,” informs Sunil.

Is he excited? “Rehearsals are underway…and we hope to open in Mumbai before travelling to London. I have seen the Shakespeare Globe Theatre, and it’s a fascinating space, very challenging to work at, as it is open air, and plays are often performed in daylight. We are all honoured to be representing a very popular and powerful Indian language,” says Sunil.