William Shakespeare’s Macbeth has been adapted in Telugu and it will be revisited on stage this weekend in Hyderabad. The 100-minute play co-produced by Storyboard Productions and Canopy Theatre presents the story from the witches’ point of view. “The first thing I told my writer Mohammad Rafi Sheikh was to not Indianise the story for the stage,” says director Eugien Jos Chirammel of Canopy. While 15 actors present the play in a semi-realistic portrayal, Macbeth unfolds on stage with minimal sets, including three stools symbolically representing thrones.
The effort is to build an actor-audience relationship through the stage. “Shakespearean acting is quite dramatic with larger-than-life characters and lengthy dialogues. We have retained some of those elements but the focus was to be less dramatic so that the actors feel more connected to the audience.”
A revived form of Thrissur-based Root Theatre, which was founded by Eugien’s father and theatre personality Jos Chirammel, began in Hyderabad in 2016. While pursuing a post-graduation in Theatre Arts from Hyderabad Central University, Eugien conducted free acting classes for three years after his father’s death. In 2019, he founded Canopy along with Soujanya Varma and also joined as a theatre arts teacher at Oakridge International School. “I went back to Kerala during the pandemic; it was during that time that Soujanya and I realised we could not live without theatre.”
Canopy aims to bring in a different perspective through the stories. “In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, problems are created by human beings and witches are extra-terrestrials seen for a short point of time. However, upon watching our play, the audience will wonder if the witches dwell inside Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, whether dark feelings exist deep inside human beings,” says Eugien.
Having done productions in Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai, Eugien enjoys his role as a director. “I found happiness with direction; I began following my dad’s training method and realised that training actors is my first love. I can act but I enjoy direction.”
Macbeth is to be staged on July 1 and 2, at 7.30 pm at Rangbhoomi Spaces in Hyderabad;. Tickets at ₹350 bookmyshow.com
