Crossings: exploring the facets of Lady Macbeth
/Crossings: exploring the facets of Lady Macbeth
Presented in English
April 2016, Gyan Manch, Calcutta, India
Company: Ranan
Concept and Direction: Vikram Iyengar
Created with: Anubha Fatehpuria, Dana Roy, Debashree Bhattacharya, Jayati Chakraborty
Music Composition and Vocal: Nageen Tanvir
Percussion: Siddhartha Bhattacharyya
Lighting Design: Sudip Sanyal
Stage and Costume Design: Vikram Iyengar
Production: Amlan Chaudhur
This performance explores Lady Macbeth in all her magnificent complexity. Four performers play facets of Lady Macbeth in constant conflict, using Kathak dance, movement, text from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and Hindustani classical folk and tribal music to create a piece that is as much constantly improvised as directed in performance. With references to figures from Indian mythology such as Putana and Shakti, this piece examines what it means to be feminine or de-feminised through the contradictions within this complex character.
For More Information:
www.rananindia.com
On Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/RananIndia/
Video from rehearsals 2016:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnnMKWaCcYs
A sampling of scholarly or media work that has been produced around Crossings. Most are in published books or journals and not available online. For selected pieces:
http://rananindia.blogspot.in/p/crossings.html
http://www.rananindia.com/Mumbai%20Mirror,%20January%202011.pdf
Crossings information pack available via GoogleDrive:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxRkNvG7XsW4YzdYQ3NzVGkxSjA
Excerpts from director's process notes 1: http://www.rananindia.com/crossings/director/Export1.htm
http://www.rananindia.com/crossings/director/Export2.htm
Crossings has seen 30 performances in India and abroad, reaching an average of 200 people per performance. Presentations on the production have also featured at several performances, comparative literature and literature seminars and conferences in Calcutta, elsewhere in India and abroad led by the director or scholars researching performance. Several workshops on interpreting Shakespeare have also been conducted with students. Scholarly writing on Crossings has appeared in the Jadavpur Journal of Comparative Literature, and publications on Shakespeare and performance in India and elsewhere.
Funding and Sponsorship:
Originally produced as part of Vikram Iyengar's Junior Fellowship from Sangeet Natak Akademi, Ministry of Culture (Government of India)
Subsequent Funders and Presenters Include:
The British Council, Calcutta
Department of English, Viswa Bharati University, Shantiniketan
Indo-British Scholars Association, Jamshedpur and Calcutta
Centre for Performance Research, Aberystwyth, UK
Nehru Centre, London, UK
Ninasam, Heggodu, Karnataka
National School of Drama, Delhi
Prakriti Foundation, Chennai
National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai
FLAME, Pune
Tbilisi International Theatre Festival, Tbilisi, Georgia
BBC, London
Revivals and tours - a sampling:
Revival 1
-March 2005: Calcutta, Shantiniketan, Jamshedpur - India. Tour supported by the British Council, Calcutta and the Indo-British Scholar's Association
-May 2005: Nehru Centre, London; Castle Theatre, Aberystwyth, UK. Invited by the Centre for Performance Research, Aberystwyth. Performance was part of a week-long residency with Ranan at the CPR Summer School
-October 2005: International Shakespeare Festival, Kerala, India
-February 2006: Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards, Delhi, India. Winner of four awards - best director, best supporting actress, best costume design, best sound design
Revival 2
-December 2007: Gyan Manch, Calcutta
-October 2008: Heggodu, International Culture Course at Ninasam, Karnataka
-January 2009: Bharat Rang Mahotsav, National Theatre Festival, Delhi
Revival 3
-January 2011: Hamara Shakespeare Festival, Chennai; Anubhuti Festival, Mumbai; guest performance at FLAME School of the Performing Arts, Pune
-March 2011: Gyan Manch, Calcutta
-October 2011: Tbilisi International Theatre Festival, Georgia
-December 2011: shoot for BBC documentary on Shakespeare in India hosted and presented by Felicity Kendal. Gyan Manch, Calcutta
Revival 4
-April 2016: Gyan Manch, Calcutta, to mark Shakespeare's 400th death anniversary
