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)