Shakespeare Titus Andronicus

The renowned bard Shakespeare, whose 400th death anniversary is being observed round the globe, has found resonance in Hyderabad too. Nishumbita Ballet & Theatre Group is bringing on stage for the very first time in Hyderabad,

their first tragedy written in the final years of 16th century ‘Titus Andronicus’ directed by Akshat Ajay Sharma. This well-known theatre group is credited with over 300 productions till date. The two-hour play is scheduled to be held on July 3 at Hari Hara Kala Bhavan, Secunderabad from 7 PM onwards.

The promo for the play intones thus: “If you have seen and love the famous television series Game Of Thrones (GoT), you wouldn't miss this play for life. Titus Andronicus is a story of power, loyalty and brotherhood. It may not be for the faint hearted because of its cruelty and violence.

GoT draws its inspiration from this William Shakespeare masterpiece. The unsubtle characters of this play are known for its layers of human emotion and animal instincts. In the play, -Roman General Titus Andronicus- gets caught up in a vicious cycle of revenge with his arch nemesis and his war prisoner – Tamora- the Queen of Goths.

But once you've waded through all the bloodshed on the stage, the play is asking a serious question- Is revenge ever justifiable. It shows how humans essentially are animals. Akshat, a filmmaker and theatre artist has been in Hyderabad for over five years and has made the transition from being a film director (a Telugu film Singham123, which made ‘table profit’ he says) to directing a play on Shakespeare works.

Nishumbita loves producing Shakespearean plays and Akshat breathes Shakespeare – this combination has given powerful plays like ‘Macbeth’ and ‘Hamlet’ a perfect shape’. “I was introduced to theatre by Dr Ram Mohan Holagundi of Nishumbita when he introduced me to the stage with the play (and the character of) Macbeth.

Since then, it has been a forward walk. Today, Akshat also dons the hat of the ‘Executive Producer’ for Nishumbita’s annual theatre festival – ‘Natotsav’,” said the young director. “If true potential of filmmaking has to be understood, the answer can be found at roots of theatre arts and practices, while if theatre needs to imbibe the times-a-changing, it needs to adapt to more modern methods of performances, especially in terms of technical aspects” he opines adding that “For Titus Andronicus, My actors and my technical team has been my biggest inspiration.

Akshat finished his Masters (MA) in Filmmaking, specialising in Direction and Screenwriting, from AISFM, Hyderabad. His short- films, documentaries have won many awards and laurels at different film festivals around the globe. He is also a writer and a poet.

Collection of his work as a writer includes his two books – God Is Dead and Viaticum – Journey Of A Soul. He has also been a part of many anthologies and journals where his poetry has been published.

Presently, he is busy with a documentary for a year now, titled ‘NatyaShala’, produced by GR Wolf Productions, where an attempt is being made to share a revealing testimony of theatre-artists' lives and a painstaking process of staging theatre production under heavy financial constraints.

By: K Naresh Kumar