Mumbai Theatre goes the Shakespeare way

Mumbai: Experimentation rules the roost in Mumbai theatre circles. And this time round, theatre gurus serve Shakespeare with a desi flavour.

Much Ado About Nothing, one of Shakespeare's best loved comedies, comes to Mumbai, but with a desi twist. This version, which spouts both English and Hindi, has been put under the lights by London based director Imogen Butler-Cole.

Set in the hill districts of 20th Century Uttar Pradesh, the play explores the follies of love and the jealousies that follow. Dressing up for the period are actors like Gerson Da Cunha, Heeba Shah and Jayant Kriplani.

"It is the first time that I have seen or heard the Hindi translation of Shakespeare correctly. It is with the right spirit and enacted by a bilingual audience. Certainly the first time that I have been a part of it," says theatre personality Gerson Da Cunha.

Actor Trishla Patel, who describes Shakespeare as a difficult man, says, "Working in two languages, we are used to it here. Bombaiya, you speak half in English and half in Hindi. So, audience does not have too much of a problem I think," she says.

While the play might be a comedy, the director says lift the veil and there is more to see: "Actually there is lot more in that title than it suggests. The word 'nothing' in Shakespeare's time was a different nomenenclature for the female genetelia. So, it means nothing as opposed to the male thing. So, that is a lot worked about a woman's place in the society."

What we get in the end is wit and drama coming together with Hindustani classical music in the courtyard of the David Sassoon Library in Mumbai. The shows are scheduled from February 22 to 26.

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