Macbeth, Kannada play by Parivartana

Captures the nuances of Shakespearean language

Macbeth, staged by ‘Parivartana Theatre Troupe’ at Kiru Rangamandira was a near perfect combination of a good translation, creative direction, lighting, music and spirited acting coming together.  While the story of Macbeth is well-known to most, it is the language, both of the word and the action on the stage, which rekindled the glory of Shakespearean tragedy.

Kannada Translation by  K.P. Vasudevan, captured the nuances of Shakespearean language without making it sound alien. This was felt at many points in the play including the one when Lady Macbeth talks about the amount of blood Duncan had in his body. The deep impact that particular sentence made was also due to the intensity with which it was delivered by Tejaswini, who played Lady Macbeth as well as the picture of Duncan the king, which was played with great panache by Dwarakanath.  

For any actor, playing a major role in a Shakespearean play, should be a milestone in their career and Tejaswini did full justice for such an opportunity and was subtle when needed and intense at other times. Ravi Teja as Macbeth, was intense throughout the play and one felt that a little subtlety would have added additional colours. Satheesh as Banco was effective.  Special mention needs to be made of Adhyapak, who played the part of Hell’s gatekeeper. In the short time, he was on stage and in a sort of monologue, he brought the house down with incisive commentary on current events with gusto.

Every creative director has his own set of pet tools and for S.R. Ramesh, use of candle lights is one of them. We have seen these being employed in many plays directed by him and it was on display here again.  Along with the right light design (Arun), candle lights helped to heighten the impact of dialogues and for the audience to feel the intensity of acting.

Set design as an art form is generally not given its due. In this play, one could see the team work between the  director and the set designer (Vishwanath) resulting in the deployment of wheeled structures with semi-transparent art written on them. The way these structures took different positions during the course of play was innovative and helped in quickly rearranging the set.  Specifically, the party scene created with this structure and with indirect lighting at the back of the stage will be etched in our memories for a long time.

Shakespeare is an eternal source for re-interpretations and Parivartana team deserves kudos for bringing Macbeth to stage with a modern touch.  

Costumes were a blend of current style as well as those of 18th century. Nacchu’s music was evocative and appropriate. There is an axiom that “background music must blend with the activity on stage and enhance the effect rather than being seen as a separate activity” was achieved  throughout the play.

While the costumes were modern, use of swords by most of the actors and the battle scene with swords was perhaps not necessary. Even though one scene with the Hell’s gatekeeper did kindle audience reactions, it did not jell with the rest of the play and remained separated from the main flow. Dialogue delivery of words having ‘mahaprana’ by many young actors was not right and it was irksome.

One need not belabour the point about Shakespearean plays being relevant at all times and Parivartana team needs to be congratulated for bringing Shakespeare to life again.  

—Shashidhar Dongre