Retrieved via the Wayback Machine. Originally posted by FatCat

I must admit I was pleasantly taken aback when I saw the pleasant stage setup inside the Horniman Circle. I had no idea that there was a such a sumptuous setting hidden away inside that traffic island. So it was with a reasonable spring in my step that I walked in to watch the Pravah Theatre Laboratory perform their unique version of Hamlet.

Now Shakespeare, as we all know, was an englishman who wore wired up collars and had a luxurious moustache. He was the author of many plays, some of which have gained worldwide fame as a ridiculously difficult school textbooks with weird punctuation. Alas thine musteth have cometh acroth some of them in thcool.

Of his plays Hamlet is undoubtedly one of the most famous. It is about a danish prince Hamlet, son of King Hamlet (or is it the othe way around) who avenges the death of his father. Hamlet, the father, was killed in treachery while Hamlet, his son went off to fight Fortinbras , son of norwegian King Fortinbras (unrelated).

Now what Pravah has done is convert this play into a fusion trilingual format with English, Kannada and Hindi melding in bits of Bharatanatyam and Yakshagana. I must admit if one does not have a background to Hamlet the play can be a little confusing. Also not being a native (or any other) speaker of Hindi a lot of the Hindi spoken portions completely left me stranded. But thankfully I was sitting next to my friend R from Egmore in Chennai and we mutually comforted each other during those moment of duress.

The concept itself was executed very well. The set was simple and utilitarian. The actors were well rehearsed and some of the exchanges had a slick choregraphed quality to them. And this was no mean feat with all the characters played in multiple languages and with periodic Yakshagana segments.

The use of a female character to play Prince Hamlet in parts was a little unsettling in the beginning but grew on me as the play progressed. Knowing the story beforehand really helped and otherwise the play may have been a bit too complex for the layman.

For me the highlights were the excellent use of the set with a window in the background screen for effect, the energetic intense Yakshagana segments and the excellent and vocal support.

The murder of Claudius was depicted through Yakshagana with an intensity that only complemented the bard’s genius.

On the flipside some of the scenes seemed unecessarily abstracted but that is a question of personal taste and I am sure theatre connoisseurs will have relished it. Also the dialogue delivery by the english Claudius was completely lacking punctuation, not unlike a Saravana Bhavan waiter rattling off the menu.

So overall it was a good show. Well executed with no apparent glitches anywhere. Some of the actors were extremely talented and I wish them success with their plans to carry this project around the country.

Now if I only knew what some of those Hindi words meant. R from Chennai next to me still can’t figure out what the word “Khatputhli” means. Frankly neither can I.

P.S. It may be good to indicate what language requirements some of these plays might have.