Students of the Department of English of Thiagarajar College staged William Shakespeare’s last play, ‘The Tempest,’ on the college premises for three days from April 19.
There were three shows every day – 9.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.; 12.30 p.m. to 2.30 p.m.; and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The play was organised by Stage Sculptors, the theatre wing of the English Department. Most of the actors were first-year students, said one of the play directors L.M. Bezaleel. The directorial team included A. Smiruthi, Assistant Professor, and final-year postgraduate students R. Swetha Archana, T. Devi Bala and B. Praveena Shree, and many alumni-cum-former stage actors.
Around 60 students - 22 stage actors – from the English department involved themselves as actors and technicians, said V. Subathra Devi, Head of the Department. “An interesting aspect is that the students who studied under Tamil medium of instruction rendered Shakespeare’s dialogues with clarity,” she said.
As many as 4,500 students from schools and colleges in and around Madurai district had booked their tickets for the show and the footfall was tremendous, she said. The play served as a window to the Elizabethan England for the students at the jam-packed hall during every show. There were spells of laughter and silence at the right spots from teh audience much to the delight of the directorial team who had slogged for over a month in getting every small detail right.
“As I had read the play, watching it with live characters was interesting,” said C. Priya, Class X student of a city school.
One of the highlights of the 90-minute play was when a 500-kg ship was brought on to the stage. The ship was handmade by the students themselves. “All the backdrops and settings which brought out the magical and enchanting aspects of the play were made by our students,” said Mr. Bezeleel.
Again, the costumes and choreogrpahy for the full-length play was done by none other than the students themselves who also penned the lyrics for the outsourced originals scored by R. Samuel Arputharaj exclusively for the play.
Prospero’s magical powers, Miranda’s dreams of love, the young Prince Ferdinand’s diligence to overcome grief, the spirit Ariel’s desire for freedom, Cannibal’s complexities - all were performed perfectly that no one from teh audience would believe many of them were first-time stage performers unless told.
‘The Tempest’ is the fifth production of the Stage Sculptors.
