PEOPLE’S ROMEO AT THE DRUM THEATRE IN PLYMOUTH
The Drum theatre in Plymouth played host to a very different interpretation of the iconic tale of Romeo and Juliet. The TARA theatre company brought to town their unique vision of the story in People’s Romeo which weaves together Shakespeare’s verse and Bengali poetry to create dynamic cross-cultural performance unlike anything the audience will have seen before.
247 spoke to the singer and performer Sohini Alam about her participation in this piece and why two such different theatrical genres seemed so ripe for a combination.
On paper the idea of combining Shakespearean prose and Bangladeshi theatre seems poles apart. How did TARA come to consider putting this show together?
Basically, the story of Romeo and Juliet is a universal concept through many narratives. Boy meets girl, boy looses girl etc is a notion that plays into so many stories and that narrative occurs in a great many Bangladeshi tales. That said Romeo and Juliet is so well known throughout the world that we felt that would provide an accessibility for the audience. Also, the Bangladeshi theatre traditions really harkens back to theatre in Shakespeare’s time.
Really? In which ways does that happen?
Well, Bangladeshi theatre traditionally involved a small group of players entertaining various communities through performance and dance with each member of the company taking on multiple roles. This is very much how Shakespeare’s theatre company presented his work with a limited number of players taking on multiple roles – the men playing women etc. It’s in the way the actors convey these roles that the story is told.
So does this cause confusion with the play. Particularly with the use of language?
It could do. We use very little modern English and instead the story is told with Bengali and old English. The story is conveyed through song and performance. So that was a strong reason for us to use such a well-known story. It makes it far easier for the audience to follow what’s happening on stage. In the same way, the combination of roles played by the same actors doesn’t seem to cause too much confusion either and I think I can safely say ours is the only production where one actor plays Romeo and Lady Capulet as well!
So is this a show that would appeal to the younger theatre going audience? For example, the under twenty five year olds who may be going along as part of the “Night Less Ordinary” initiative by the Arts Council to provide them with free tickets?
Oh definitely, the success of the Romeo and Juliet movie several years back shows just how relevant this type of story still is to young people’s experience. Each generation believes that they have discovered love and music and dance but in fact those who came before have experienced it all previously and may be able to offer some insight into how they’re feeling. I think this is why People’s Romeo is in a position to really involve the audience – whatever their background – in something that contains real meaning and can enable them to take a look at life from what may be something of a new perspective.
People’s Romeo ran at the Drum from Sept 21-25.
Words: Alan Butler
