What Others Say: Hamlet The Clown Prince

Posted on Aug 16th, 2009 by Shuchi in What Others Say

Here’s what The Hindu (Delhi) had to say about the play:

What is truly remarkable about “Hamlet – the Clown Prince”, is that it breaks and constructs the “fourth wall” (the division between audience and actors) with quicksilver speed. The play alternates between episodes where the actors actually talk to the audience and episodes where the audience is carried away in the magic of theatre.

Read the full piece here.

Of special note is how the play adapts its dialogue based on the location/audience. In Bangalore, the actors joked about the distance of the airport from the city, the confounding mains and crosses, and the strict entry timing of Rangashankara. In Delhi, it seems, they went on about  "the chaos that is Delhi, where it is impossible to find parking and where everything is in circles".

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Review: Hamlet The Clown Prince

Posted on Aug 13th, 2009 by Shuchi in English Et Al, Reviews, The Company Theatre

Hamlet The Clown Prince Written-directed by Rajat Kapoor, the promos said, so I went to watch Hamlet The Clown Prince expecting something cerebral, sophisticated and well-acted.

The play was not just that but more. Rip-roaringly funny, with a very inventive script and top-class acting.

The language listed for the play on the Ranga Shankara schedule was the odd "English and Gibberish". The play started off with a joker standing under a spotlight, speaking a peculiar tongue – a mix of French, English, and literally gibberish. It was difficult at first to make out what he was saying, and I was waiting for him to switch to English. The switch didn’t happen. More characters joined in, all speaking the same tongue. What did happen was that this weird, comical language began to make sense.

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