Supporting Act

Ahead of the play’s premiere at Jamshed Bhabha Theatre of National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) on Friday evening, the rehearsals at Dadar’s Sitara Studio are in full swing.
One of the actors is back after spending five days in the hospital and Kapadia has just recovered from a bout of flu. Getting a cast of 15 together for rehearsals is a task, admits the director. And finding a replacement for an actor in a Shakespearean play, tough. Taking a break from rehearsals, Kapadia says, “The Merchant of Venice is one of the most widely read plays in urban India. The moment I mention it to friends, they quote a line from the play. I almost fear that someone from the audience will stand up and deliver the lines before the actors do.”

Another hurdle the director has faced has been with the characterisation of Shylock, one of the most complex characters created by the Bard. Kapadia, who plays the Jewish moneylender, says people have strong opinions about Shylock. “Shylock is misunderstood because people have either imbibed their teacher’s views or by reading Shakespeare guide books and footnotes which often use words such as ‘shrewd’ ‘conniving’, and ‘devil’ to describe him. If Shylock was just that, Shakespeare would not be considered a genius today,” he says.

While the original length of the play is around three hours, Kapadia has trimmed it by an hour, keeping the text relevant. Still, the production remains loyal to the original script, which he hopes will induce nostalgia in the audience. Yet, he has introduced a few changes to give the play a contemporary feel. For instance, in the scene where the court presides over Shylock’s claim for a pound of flesh, a group of pesky electronic reporters wait outside. “It is just a question of being innovative with your imagery. The contemporary world brings with it different characters. With the reach of television and the internet, the media today is a ubiquitous force. It finds its space everywhere and also in my show, without imposing on the text,” says Kapadia.

Kapadia has room for experimentation with various departments of this production because funds are not an issue. This makes Aadyam — also producing Rage Theatre’s The Sidhus of Upper Juhu, Q Theatre Productions’s God of Carnage, AKVarious’s The Hound of the Baskervilles and Arpana Theatre’s Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon (Hindi) — a noteworthy initiative that makes theatre enjoy corporate sponsorship. Aadyam’s artistic director Divya Bhatia says, “Combined, these groups have been associated with an enviable variety of projects that cover the gamut of theatrical experiences in the city. Their work has been experimental, original and popular.”

The opening of these plays will be spread across the year. Each will have nine shows and will be staged in Mumbai and Delhi.
According to Bhatia, this will be annual and Aadyam will extend its support to a fresh set of plays next year.

Before Kapadia returns to the rehearsal room, he pauses to lament on the state of theatre. “Funds are so tight today that most of us are doing monologues or two-actor plays. It has come down to the bare essence of telling stories,” says the director-actor, who has another show called Bombay Talkies, an anthology of monologues. Apart from that, Kapadia says he is planning to revive his popular play Black with Equals. What he would truly love to do is direct a Shakespearean and an original play every alternate year.

“However, to stage the Bard’s work, I would need appropriate financial backing.”

The Merchant of Venice will be staged at NCPA, this Friday and Saturday.

alaka.sahani@expressindia.com