Staging Shakespearean play is not easy but the students of Lakshmi School displayed tremendous character and performed with purpose to bring Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice alive on stage. Though there were minor glitches, the performers captured the essence of the play and delivered dialogues to the best of their ability.
The play opened with the market scene where friends Bassanio and melancholy-stricken Antonio meet. Desperately in need of money to enter a test to win the hand of his ladylove Portia, Bassanio asks his friend, who borrows the money from Shylock after signing a bond that allows the Jew to cut flesh from any part of his body in case Antonio fails to pay the amount within three months. By quirk of fate, Antonio loses his fortunes and the unpleasant happens. In the court, all pleas of mercy fail to impress Shylock, who disdainfully ridicules the idea of mercy. The arrival of Balthazar (Portia in disguise) quoting the law of the land turns the tables on Shylock who faces an ignominious defeat.
The students did not complicate much taking only the main plot for the performance. The team gave the play a contemporary colour with characters using modern attires instead of period costumes. “This adaptation was to prepare students for the actual play which is a prescribed text for ICSE students and, therefore, chose the cast from classes IX and X. We retained the same dialogues and initially it was tough for the students, as most of them were first time stage performers,” says Shanthi Mohan, the school Principal.
The highlight of the play was that it was totally managed by XI Standard students, who acted out the scenes to their juniors. They also designed the properties and sets with the assistance from teachers and directed it under the supervision of theatre person Joseph Paul Bezaleel.
“I tried to stick to the original script of Shakespeare and dissuaded the students from copying from movie or any other production. In fact, we effected some changes without hindering the flow of the play. We felt the play was too serious for the students. Hence, we introduced the sleeping priest, who is not part of the original play, as a comic relief. We picked the character from the Twelfth Night where the priest says “The eternal bond of love…,” while solemnising the wedding of Viola and Duke Orsino and Olivia and Sebastian,” says Bezaleel.
Enacting Shakespearean play in 50 minutes needs guts. Reeha of X Standard as Portia, with an air of modern day film heroine, raced through the dialogues, Srinickethan of X Standard as Bassanio was off colour while Rohan of class IX as Antonio was stiff. Given the importance of the character, Jeyashithan Raaj of Class IX as Shylock could have done better. Bharathi Subramanian and Sri Ram of Class IX as Gratiano and the sleepy priest, respectively, did justice to their characters. With his nonchalant approach, Bharathi emerged as the darling of the crowd.
“The proceeds from the ticketed show will go for charity. We plan to buy books for children of small schools in the neighbourhood,” says Shanthi Mohan.
