NEW DELHI: All the world’s a stage for Shakespearean dramas that traversed language, borders and cultural landscapes. Retold with a Santhali touch, students of KITT and KISS, in collaboration with the Embassy of Romania, staged Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Macbeth at Constitution Club on Friday.
The students dressed in traditional Santali attire linked Shakespeare’s plots to the revolution of Bob Dylan, the resistance of Pandit Raghunath Murmu and the tribal culture. The narrative is to say that stories belong to no single language.
These plays represent Shakespeare’s understanding of human nature, unravelling the plots of love, ambition, faith and revenge. Be it Hamlet’s choice between love and revenge, Macbeth’s ambition or Juliet’s tragedy – it is still relevant in the contemporary world across languages.
Shakespeare’s enduring appeal lies not only in his themes but also in his deep engagement with folklore and oral traditions. From the tale behind Ophelia’s cryptic remark in Hamlet to Lady Macbeth’s alter ego, Shakespeare frequently drew upon stories beyond conventional, polite understanding.
This connection to oral storytelling finds a striking parallel in India, where epics, folktales and tribal narratives have long travelled across regions, languages and generations. Scenes from King Lear and The Merchant of Venice resonate with folktale motifs found across cultures, including Indian tribal culture.
By drawing on stories rooted in collective memory, Shakespeare’s works transcend geography and language, allowing audiences from vastly different cultural backgrounds to find reflections of their own histories.
The narration of each play gave students the agency to pose a question on the stage. “To be or not to be” came alive on stage as the students explored through the stories, paving the way for an unconventional representation of Shakespearean dramas. The whole point was to state that the mind is the ultimate prison and one needs to break its shackles. Santhali live folk music complemented the presentation.
Twenty students from the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences spent nearly two months in Romania preparing the performances.They returned to India after making history at the International Shakespeare Festival Craiova in Romania, where they staged the plays in the Santali language. The achievement coincides with the centenary year of the Santali Ol Chiki script.
Founder Achyuta Samanta called the feat a matter of pride for Odisha and India. He described the initiative as a “tribute to indigenous culture and linguistic heritage”. Resonating the feeling, Dr Suryasnata Mohanty, Joint Director, KIIT & KISS said, “It is not a theatre event but a tribute to indigenous languages and cultures. Afterall, the language has a glorious history of resistance against British colonialism”
History made
Students returned to India after making history at the theatre fest in Craiova where they staged plays in Santali.