Amateur theatre groups steer clear off Hamlet because the Stratfordshire bard’s play is not only lengthy but also enigmatic. But it did not dampen the spirits of Fourth Wall Production of the English Literary Association, The American College, as they braved challenges to enter the maze and succeeded in staging the play.
The drama presentation effectively portrayed the psychological struggles of a sensitive young man who tragically feels fish out of water in a disjointed world. It is also a play about the terrible end of a treacherous brother who kills his own sibling and usurps the throne and a shameless queen who marries the man who killed her noble husband. Also it is a sad reminder that in this world of brutal violence and betrayals there is no place for true love.
The production effectively brought out these and many more facets of the masterpiece.
Dilemma is universal. It is not only for Hamlet but also for the director of the play N. Elango who is confronted with ‘what to leave and what not to leave.’ It is a real challenge for the director to capture modern man's anxiety and sensibility for a longer period of time.
“We tackled the length of the play which demands at least three-and-a- half hours. Even Shakespeare couldn’t have performed in his Globe theatre the text prescribed in colleges. So we edited the text. When we were convinced that we had retained the plot-line and the moral vision of the original, we went for the rehearsals. Of course, unlike cinema, drama is a process, not a product,” says Elango, who has staged several works of the Bard of Avon before.
Elango’s production runs for an hour and forty five minutes. He has closely maintained the original text without compromising the universal appeal of the classic.
“The play presented a contemporary scenario. Worse than ever before, we have started taking human relationships for granted. In an era of the so-called communication boom, interpersonal communication has become shallow, phatic and cliched. The emoji gallery deceptively seem to represent entire gamut of human emotions. I was so convinced that Hamlet tells us that no human relation, parent, child, or spouse can be taken for granted. I strongly believe in nurturing human relationships carefully,” he says.
The performance begins with the futility of interpersonal communication among the guards of the castle so effectively accentuated by the eerie music, well orchestrated by Josaiah Immanuel and well complemented by Jim Eliot who was behind the lighting.
“Fourth Wall is an academic theatre. Every year the English Department enrols scores of new students (this time 108 students) in the play production. What would have been a set-back while making a play of Hamlet’s magnitude actually turned into a blessing in disguise as the participants responded to the script with innocence and spontaneity,” says Elango.
While Ilamathiyan of II M.A. English was blissfully unaware of the Hamletian burden he was carrying, Swathy Lakshmi of I M.A. English as Ophelia stole the hearts of the audience with her performance.
(The show for public is scheduled at 6 p.m. on October 14).
