|
| |
| Reviews |
| |
Hamlet the Clown Prince – review
Alfred Hickling
guardian.co.uk,
Wednesday 9 March 2011 19.45 GMT |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
| |
Madcap ... Hamlet the Clown Prince
|
There is a lot not to like about Hamlet. It is very long, incredibly intense and not a bit funny. But for those who cannot face four morbid hours in Elsinore, there is the alternative of 90 madcap minutes in Mumbai.
The Company Theatre of Mumbai is an ensemble founded 15 years ago by actor, director and clown Atul Kumar. The concept for this production is simple: a red-nosed troupe attempt to perform Shakespeare's tragedy in their flat-footed way and, being clowns, wilfully sabotage and misinterpret the play. Yet their inspired foolery uncovers some significant truths.
Kumar studied the classical discipline of Kathakali and the European tradition of mime with Philippe Genty, and his antic prince has a foot in both camps. Reversing the usual polarity of the Dane, Kumar presents a madman prone to fits of sanity, while his virtuoso vocal improvisations – approximately 40% in English – borrow from the Vidushaka, the colloquial fool of Sanskrit drama, and the Bollywood method of presenting the dialogue in several different languages at once.
The interpretation has its lucid moments: who has not at some point felt the need to gag Polonius with a roll of duct tape? And the pathos of Ophelia's valediction is intensified by plucking real flowers from thin air. There are moments when the slapstick becomes slapdash – it's debatable whether the digressive improvisations based on Ghostbusters and The Lion King are really necessary, and the whole concept may be too cloying for some. But that's the nature of the Company Theatre's approach: too twee, or not too twee? That is the question. |
| |
| |
|
|
