“Hero, Don Pedro, Don John, Verges,” says Matt Maltby. “Claudio, Conrad, Margaret, the Friar, Hugh Oatcake,” says Stanton. “Beatrice, Leonato, George Seacoal, Balthasar and the Sexton,” says Paul Hilliar. “Benedick, Borachio, Dogberry, Ursula,” says Liam Mansfield. The four actors of The Handlebards from London rattle off the many characters they will be playing in William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing that is being currently staged.
It boggles the mind to think how would they would swap characters. “I establish a physicality for each character,” says Stanton. “It’s like how those Formula one drivers who close their eyes and visualise the whole thing,” says Matt. Stanton agrees and says: “I think the physicality is the best way to get into the characters and that helps you learn the lines.” Paul reflects for a while and says: “I don’t remember the lines...No I do. It’s a real challenge. Things have gone wrong for all of us in the last three months.” At this, Matt says: “Paul makes it a point to tell you that you have made a mistake!”
The Handlebards Company is no stranger to Bengaluru. They have performed several times here. But for the four actors in Much Ado About Nothing, this is their first visit to India. “I am overwhelmed by how busy it is!” Paul says about the city. “I love the food,” he adds, and says that ‘curry’ in the UK, is nothing like the English imitation of it. About the performance, Paul says: “It’s a wonderful celebration of Shakespeare, and not a stuffy production or what has become traditional. It is fun, light-hearted that involves the audience. We rely heavily on physicality. We try and make it accessible for everybody.” Liam says it is a back to basics, bare bones kind of performance. “We strip back all the props. It’s only about the actors.” Matt adds: “We party with the audience. It’s silly and fun.”
The Handlebards is a unique theatre company that has actors carry on their bicycles all their required sets, props and costumes. Their performances are marked by the extreme physicality involved in it. All the actors agree that it requires them to be fit...very fit. “We got through The Handlebards through an audition process. It was rigorous, and we had three rounds of it,” recalls Stanton. “It was the hardest audition process,” says Matt, but he wanted to be part of the company, as “I’d seen them before. I loved them. They had some ridiculously talented actors.”
London is known to buzz with theatre. Stanton, who is from America, agrees and says: “In America, film is bigger. In the UK, there’s a mix of both.” Liam says theatre spans many kinds of shows. “At the West End, there are huge scale productions. Fringe Theatre allows younger companies and with less money to put up productions. There are so many shows in Fringe. If you want to watch all of them, it wouldn’t be possible.” Theatre is a much more flexible art form when compared to film, says Stanton, “Theatre is the way people challenge ideas. It’s a medium of making a political statement. You’re made to suspend disbelief.” But Liam adds that it is harder to make money in theatre than film.
The Handlebards presents Much Ado About Nothing at Alliance Francaise on September 23 and at Shoonya on September 24, 7.30 p.m. onwards. Tickets are priced at Rs. 500. Visit: http://bit.ly/2coARP6.
