Contemporary touch to a classic
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The children of Kutumb Foundation gave a contemporary feel to Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” P. ANIMA
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Touch of humour A scene from the play .
DJs bring alive Himesh Reshammiya’s music at the Capulet’s ball. A love-lorn Romeo promises to “message” his Juliet. “Masti mein Romeo Juliet” by the children of Kutumb Foundation made the 16th Century Shakespearea
n tragedy contemporary.
The children put up a spirited performance and had the capacity audience in thrall at the Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts. Kutumb works with the children in the slums around Khan Market and the play was partly the product of their imagination.
“Masti mein Romeo and Juliet” retains the plot and storyline of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” but peppers it with contemporary anecdotes and places it partly in an Indian context, primarily in terms of costumes. The director Rasika Agashe has adopted a few innovative techniques too in the play. The actors, instead of making their customary appearance from backstage, went up to the stage from the audience.
The energy and the enthusiasm of the kids were quite tangible. Moments before the curtains went up the young girl playing Lady Montague went around the auditorium egging on the youngsters to give their best. The play opened with the verbal duel between the Capulets and Montague men.
Humour too
Despite the original being a tragedy, the stress of “Masti mein Romeo and Juliet” was on humour. The ball at the Capulets where Juliet is supposed to find her match turns out to be an all-party affair with the actors shaking their leg to “Mundaya tu bachchke rahi.”
“During the discussions the children tried to make the play more topical,” says Kapil Pandey, President of Kutumb Foundation. “They would improvise and create situations that were contemporary,” he adds.
Relating “Romeo and Juliet” to the contemporary scene is where the play managed to strike a chord. Further, with the actors constantly emerging from the crowd, the audience remained hooked to the proceedings. The actors, all aged between 9 and 18 years of age, put up a fine performance.
The comic strain never left the play even in the climax and typically there was hope at the end. Accompanying Romeo and Juliet throughout the play were a junior Romeo and Juliet. Over the dead bodies of the star-crossed lovers, the younger Romeo and Juliet take the vow to be together at all cost.
The lighting was apt. In a play where more than 10 actors take the stage at a given time, the spotlights often brought the right focus. The performances were spirited considering “Masti mein Romeo and Juliet” was the first time many of these kids got on stage.
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