‘Play’ing out the problems of today
The play 'No Holds Bard' combines the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore with Hamlet’s internal conflict
The Ivy League Academy’s production of No Holds Bard is a unique amalgamation of Rabindranath Tagore’s verse and the Shakespearean tragedy Hamlet. Staged by the institute’s students, the play addresses the many issues that plague our nation today. Each cause, from the excessive use of technology to poverty and socialism, is first expressed through a few lines of Tagore’s poetry and then through Hamlet, a suitable metaphor, reflective of the self-doubt that plagues these young minds. Sanket, one of the students, explains why, “When I say I am Hamlet, I mean that I understand that I am different and confused. Yet I am looking for answers.”
The “movement piece” doesn’t lay much emphasis on performance. The 12 students say what they have to one at a time, before passing on the baton to the next.
Class XI student Abhilasha feels that she has become more sensitive towards social issues after working on the play. “We have many students from the Northeast at our school and earlier, I couldn’t understand why they come so far to study. But in the play, we talk about the endless conflicts in the area so I’ve come to understand my fellow students better.”
The audience mostly comprised proud parents of the students and at the end, there were innumerable questions —– Are the kids aware of the seriousness of the issues they spoke about? Do they know the way forward? What are they going to do to help change the world around them? Unfazed by expectations, the last question received the unanimous reply, “Theatre.”
As Class X student Parikshit points out, “Theatre allows us to put our thoughts out into the world. It’s the best way to teach and to learn. We sensitise ourselves and the audiences about things, however unpleasant, that need to be spoken about.”
But, at the end of the day, they are just students slogging over their board exams and trying to get into a college of repute. What happens to Shakespeare, Tagore and Hamlet’s internal conflict after that? “The activi-sm goes on,” Abhilasha says emphatically.