Mysuru: Mini theatre, “No one just performs Shakespeare, we all adapt it to our own culture. And this adaptation gives ethnic variety to the plays but in the mean time we should introspect what we have done to the original works opined Prof. Rajendra Chenni, thinker here on Friday.
He was speaking at the National Seminar on Shakespeare: Indian Response, organised as part of the Bahurupi festival at the Mini theatre.
“Appropriation has played a crucial role from the beginning. Shakespearean works provided a space for the vernacular cult and portrayed the regional disagreements. When we speak on the Shakespeare’s influence in Indian theatre, two sets of arguments arise, where the first cult is strongly in acceptance of portraying Shakespeare as an ambassador of Cultural politics”.
“They put in various arguments depicting him as an “ Aristocrat“. They argue that during the post-colonial period in the name of education English was introduced in India even before it was made mandatory at Oxford and British Universities. They propagated that the Indian practices as inhuman and against the modern civilisation”.
Another argument however was that, in the name of colonisation the British colonised our Culture but at the same time they did not allow the people at the other end to be passive. It gave a space for the much needed appropriation through translation and transcriptions. The regional theatre adopted it to their conditions and merged the basic values of the original work.
“By wandering over the Post colonialism we are trying to find a new model which is the need of the hour. But at the same time so called academicians have not contributed anything new to Shakespearean perspective”, he lamented.
After inaugurating the Seminar Prof. B K Govinda Rao Thinker, Artist said that Shakespeare is universal not because of his writings but the way he depicted the human element in his works. These emotions are universal and that is why he has remained in everyone’s heart.
H Janardhan Director Rangayana was present.
Later in seminar 1 a scene from Shakespeare’s Hamlet was performed and a discussion took place on how different Shakespeare’s works are from others.
Prasanna S R Ramesh and V Ruthvik Simha,Theatre Directors and K R Nandini Theatre Artist were present.
