Vengeance Returns

The play,considered to be one of Shakespeare’s earliest attempt at tragedies,is said to have been influenced by the-then popular plays by his contemporaries,which were greatly admired by the audiences. Although popular in its time,Titus Andronicus fell out of favour during the Victorian era,mainly because the tastes of the audiences had changed and graphic violence was frowned upon. But the play’s reputation began to improve in the later half of the 20th century. “There are over 24 murders and deaths in the play,which is supposed to run for just over three hours,” says Vanarase.

Talking about the upcoming acting workshop from which the cast of the play is going to get finalised,Vanarase — who holds a post-graduate degree from National School of Drama (NSD),Delhi — says,“We have tried to keep the process as organic as possible. We have organised a three-day workshop in Pune next week,where we will just assess the participants who want to join the project. There will be no such thing as elimination or audition. The cast will emerge from the participants,” he says. After selecting the main cast,he will then spend the next month working with the actors. “Jeffrey will then join us early next year and we will begin working on the play,which is slated to be staged in Pune by February 2014,” he explains.

He adds that a similar process will simultaneously take place in the University of Georgetown as well as the University of Cape Town and all the three plays will be staged together in South Africa by end of March or early April in 2014.

Commenting on relevance of the play in today’s era,Vanarase says,“We,as a society,follow a certain moral code. But is that reflected in our entertainment industry? Violence is everywhere; even in the cartoons,violence is depicted as something funny.”

But he adds that both he and Sichel are planning to improvise the script but not stray too far away from the original ideas depicted in the play. “I saw the 2006 adaptation of the play by Lucy Bailey for Shakespeare’s Globe and it left a lasting impression on my mind. That production had taken several creative liberties resulting in a breathtaking performance; whereas the BBC’s adaptation of the play rigidly followed the original narrative,” he says.

Drawing comparisons between the society of 16th century Rome and 21st century India,Vanarase says,“There is a particular scene in the play where Titus’ daughter Lavinia is brutally raped by his enemies. They cut off her tongue and chop off her hands so that she is not able to tell the world about the perpetrators of the crime. If we don’t talk about the particular cases or people,the scene as such can be looked at as a metaphor for women in India,who still are not able to talk about rape and violence freely,” he says.

Vanarase and Sichel plan to use minimal yet meaningful imagery for the play. “We are not going to go overboard with the sets or costumes. It has to be meaningful yet understated,” says Vanarase. The play,slated to be in Marathi,Hindi and English,will also use elements from the folk forms in India,especially the tamasha. Vanarase also revealed that they are hoping to stage a collaborative version with the actors selected from the three countries at Baku,Azerbaijan,next year. “There is going to be festival held by International Theatre Institute,which comes under the umbrella of Unesco,” he says.

The project has been conceptualised by city-based liberal arts and education institute MIDAS and International Association for Performing Arts and Research (IAPAR) in collaboration with University of Georgetown (US) and University of Cape Town (South Africa).