Alyque and the Macbeth Jinx

THE STAGE IS BATHED in aneerie yellow-orange light, asthree shadowy figures in flow-ingblack dance around a five-footcauldron, their skull necklacesknocking ominously against eachother. When they chant the verses inharmony, your teeth feel the vibra-tions.

It’s one of Shakespeare’s best-knownscenes—the witches’ meet-ing,Macbeth, Act I, Scene I. But whatsets Alyque Padamsee’s latest pro-ductionThe Blood and Passion of Mac-bethapart is that it is propelled by“tantrik energy”. “There are similari-tiesbetween tantra and the happen-ingsin Macbeth,” says Padamsee. “Inboth, something needs to be de-stroyedin order for something newto be born.”

A sense of the paranormal res-onatesthrough every pillar as theepic tale of betrayal plays out on asurreal landscape. Subhojit Das-gupta,a Vedic Sciences expert hasadvised Padamsee on styling theproduction. The wardrobe by TarunTahiliani is fabricated in red, whiteand black, the primary colours ofthe occult art. The chakra motif—animportant element of tantra—ismorphed into the props. The musiccomposed by jazz virtuoso LouisBanks is layered with inaudiblesubtonic sounds. “When these ele-mentscome together, it will placethe audience in a trance,” addsPadamsee, who has always been fas-cinatedwith the idea of femininetantrik shakti; that’s also how he hasfashioned the character of LadyMacbeth, played by Lushin Dubey.

Dressed in an olive green skirt,black bodice, and a red sash drapedaround the waist, Dubey’s persona isinfused with subtle sensuality. “Sheis the sutradhara of the play who usesleft-handed tantra derived from sex-ual energy,”says Dasgupta. Even thelovemaking scene is staged in a ritu-alisticmanner to the sounds ofchanting. The rest of the cast is amedley of Mumbai theatre veterans:Vijay Crishna (Macbeth), CarlaSingh (head witch) Gerson daCunha (King Duncan) and SabiraMerchant (Lady McDuff ).

The Bard’s in vogue this seasonwith numerous big-budget adapta-tionsin the pipeline. While Padam-see’sdaughter Raell Padamsee is theproducer of The Blood..., his sonQuasar Thakore Padamsee is work-ingon A Midsummer Night’s Dream byBritish director Tim Supple. ButMacbeth is one of the most difficultShakespeare plays to enact, thoughit has been widely staged in India,including Durga Khote’s memorableperformance in the 1954 play Raj-mukut(The Crown).

Every theatreperson knowsabout the curse of Macbeth. The firsttime the play was staged in 1606, thelead actor died mysteriously. Actorshave fallen off stage, been assaultedby stray props and most film adapta-tions—including by directors likeOrson Welles, Akira Kurosawa andRoman Polanski—have lost money.

As we leave the technical re-hearsal,a stage light suddenlycrashes in the background.

(The play opens in Mumbai in mid-Apriland tours the country after that)

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