PLAY IT AGAIN !
It is a brave new world of Shakespearean classics. The Bard of Avon’s powerful plays – The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Macbeth — are retold engagingly by Helen Street.
The retold plays are now available in India, courtesy Mango Classics, from the ‘Literature for Children’ wing of DC Books, which has collaborated with its UK-based partner-publisher Real Reads Ltd on this project.
Street’s is a bold attempt to encapsulate each of these great dramas in just over 50 pages, without losing the original essence. Simplicity of presentation, colourful illustrations (Charly Cheung) and quality printing make the books a hit.
In ‘The Tempest’, we are witness to the amazing events that unfold on an island. There are bewitchments and treacheries galore, but as the Bard reminds us, “How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is!”
The craving for power makes Macbeth in ‘Macbeth’ ruthless, but he is fully aware that “the things we do sometimes come back to punish us”. Plenty to think about, isn’t it?
In ‘Romeo and Juliet’, there is a Romeo who gets “shot right through the heart with Cupid’s arrow” even before he ends his life for love!
As “confessed” in the appendix to the books, many parts of Shakespeare’s original texts and subplots have been dropped in the making of the abridged version. Two events are sometimes merged and Shakespeare’s original words are linked with new texts structured in the same style. As if to atone for this, some points are given in the end to “fill in the gaps”!
What makes the books worth a read is the background information on Elizabethan theatre, the list of books, films and websites that one could read, watch or browse, and ‘points to ponder’. Don’t skip the opening pages that have succint descriptions of characters in the plays. This helps you keep track of the plot in every story.
Titles: Romeo and Juliet; Macbeth; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; The Tempest (William Shakespeare Retold)
Author: Helen Street
Illustrator: Charly Cheung
Publisher (India): Mango Classics, DC Books
Price: Rs 95 Online bookshop: www.dcbookshop.net
