Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 31: Master director Ratan Thiyam’s ‘Macbeth’ staged in Manipuri, at Abhinav Theatre, here today, was a stunning spectacle marked with aural and visual aesthetic which provided a radical alternative to the English language ‘canonical’ Shakespeare.
Macbeth is story of a Scottish general Macbeth who receives a prophecy from witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia.
In Ratan Thiyam’s version, Shakespeare’s dark tragedy stands transported from its original medieval Scottish locale to an ancient and tribal place and bestowed with a kind of timelessness and universality. In spite of the change in setting and language and numerous creative liberties, Ratan Thiyam’s Macbeth is considered one of the best adaptations of the play.
Staged by Chorus Repertory Theatre, Imphal, play’s design is marked by a new eclectic theatrical grammar: gestural, symbolic and stylized. Drawing elements from Indian classical dramaturgical discourses, Bharata’s Natya Shastra, ancient Greek drama and Japan’s highly stylized Noh theatre and the traditional Manipuri performance mode-all stand assimilated into Ratan Thiyam’s own distinct form.
Right from opening scene of witches, who look to be an extension of the vegetal world of the jungle, the actors’ Bharatnatyam like measured movement, gait, stance and poses, subtle variations at entries and exits by actors as per the hierarchy of respective roles, along with costumes, hair, props, background score, the live music with indigenous musical instruments, the use of light and darkness-all standout as well thought out integral adjuncts to the overall design which for its ingenuity has a unique morphology.
Noticeable among the props were black bamboo helmets, the totem on top of flag, Macbeth’s large scythe, and other scythes carried by the group, the red flowing woolen shawls, black armored vests, the brass gong, the drum roll, long bamboo scroll, and the dance-like formations, supported by energetic drums and other indigenous instruments —-all add to the overall aesthetics of the production.
Tomorrow, the ongoing Jammu Chapter of 8th Theatre Olympiad will conclude with Hindi play Bhikre Bimb by Rang Shankara, Bengaluru under direction of Arundhati Nag.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
