Back from a dream
G.S. PAUL
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P.R. Jijoy dwells upon his experience as a member of the troupe that participated in the Complete Works of Shakespeare Festival.
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MULTILINGUAL TEAM: P.R. Jijoy in `A Midsummer Night's Dream.'
After an eventful tour of United Kingdom and Italy, P.R. Jijoy is back home at Irinjalakuda. The former student of the School of Drama, Calicut University, had donned the roles of Theseus and Oberon in `A Midsummer Night's Dream,' a joint production of Dash Arts (London) and British Council for the year-long Complete Works of Shakespeare Festival, a project undertaken by Royal Shakespeare Company.
Directed by Tim Supple, 12 shows of the play were presented in Swan Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon from June 7 to 17 and three shows in Verona, Italy, from June 21 to 23.
"It's like a dream," said Jijoy while recalling his experience during the festival. The period after his selection for the play was marked by emotional highs and lows, physical injuries and anxieties.
The premier shows in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata in April last had boosted the confidence of the 20-member multilingual team of actors to give their best at the world's greatest theatre festival. According to Jijyoy, the troupe had put up an exclusive dress rehearsal on June 7; `Press night' on the second day brought a cross section of critics from international media.
Rave review
"The rave reviews triggered wild jubilation in our camp," he said.
While the Daily Telegraph described the play as "A fantastical, unforgettable Dream," the Guardian summed up, "Multilingual dream is Shakespeare sensation." Sam Marlowe of The Times wrote, "Dreams of sensuality like this could go on and on."
Interestingly all the actors, including the nine-year old Ram Pawar, attracted favourable remarks from the press. Jijoy was enthralled to read in Birmingham Post, "With one of the sexiest Oberon and Titania couplings you will see in P. R. Jijoy and Archana Ramaswamy, vivid music and dance and beautiful costumes, it is a theatrical experience of rare richness."
The play attracted spectators from all sections of people on all days. Another rewarding experience was the classes in voice training under the celebrity Sicily Berry. The Indian contingent was also invited to Italy where they performed at Theatro Romano in Verona, the land of Romeo and Juliet.
Singular appeal
That the troupe is the only one invited for another tour of the U.K. for nine months from January 2007 is proof of its singular appeal. The play will be staged in Courtyard Theatre. A world tour of the five continents will follow the U.K. schedule.
T. Gopalakrishnan and D. Padmakumar are the other Malayali actors in the play. While the former was selected from the School of Drama, Thrissur, the latter was picked from Darpana.
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