Jazz-ing up Olivia

Manpriya Singh

What happens when Shakespeare meets 21st century? All the grand speeches and traditional costumes give way to furious pace and rock feel. British Council presents Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night by Filter Theatre, UK, in association with Royal Shakespeare Company. The story of romance, satire and mistaken identity.

The play that was supposed to be a stint is a journey now. “The whole thing was done for ten days, not knowing it was going to last for ten years,” Oliver Dimsdale, the associate director, laughs over how the play was first staged back in 2006, “in front of lots of empty and broken seats.”

“We never thought one day, we’d be getting the play to India,” he adds, currently on an eight city tour and having already taken the production to The States, Mexico and several parts of Europe. Perhaps, the riotous and explosive new take on Shakespeare’s original tale worked. “It has turned into a much more hard rock piece rather than a delicate production.”

In the midst of all the rework, the production aims to stay true to Shakespeare’s tale, while conveying the melancholy of unrequited lovers and the crazy things often associated with mad love.

Added humour

As challenging as it might be to reinterpret the classics, as fascinating it is.

“We removed a lot of lines, jokes about the law, lewd jokes and things like that,” nods Oliver. On the same note and extending the creative liberty, “We added a lot of silly humour, of course, with attempts to retain the emotions of characters intact,” he adds, currently on a first ever visit to India and eight cities at that. “We have already showcased in Delhi and after this, we visit Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Goa and Mumbai.

Joining in is musician Alan Pagan, who with the play, “gets the feeling of a band. I am the drummer not for four people but for eight people. I added my interpretation to the music, which is a colourful spectrum of styles ranging from jazz to rock.”

Directed by Sean Holmes, the other key cast members and musicians include Amy Marchant, Dan Poole, Fergus O’Donnell, Fred Thomas, Harry Jardine and Sandy Foster. “The beauty of this piece is that it allows the audience to literally engage with each person,” shares Ronke Adekoluejo, one of the key cast members.

Classic example

The play revolves around the collision of two worlds - Olivia’s melancholic, puritanical household clashes with Sir Toby Belch’s drunken revelry. Orsino’s relentless pursuit of Olivia and Malvolio’s extraordinary transformation typify the madness of love in Illyria— land of make-believe where Shakespeare set the characters. “Knowledge of the play is definitely useful,” shares Oliver, with a little another note, “With the classics we like to make a show that we ourselves would like to watch.”

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(To be staged on November 28 at 7pm at Golf Club, Sector 6, Chandigarh)

Team player: Alan Pagan, Ronke Adekoluejo and Oliver Dimsdale

Photo: Manoj Mahajan