<p>Curtains, there were none. But, once the motley crowd converged in eager anticipation, the pale white screen inside the compact theatre space came dramatically alive. <br /><br /></p>.<p>In one fleeting moment, the screen turned a sweeping canvas, as distinctly human silhouettes moved to the beats of an old Shakespearean play. The audience were about to witness arguably the city’s first full-scale play in a hitherto restricted shadow play format. <br /><br />Manipulating light, devising new ways to block its path to sculpt shades of moving figures, the Yours Truly theatre group was attempting a big leap in visual artistry. The city’s theatre buffs had seen actors unleash their full-faced oratory, sighed in disbelief at the mastery of costume design. <br /><br />But for this piece of theatre, “The Corporate Politics of Macbeth,” the actors had shed their collective identity, letting their forms and voices to take over. The technique was fresh, the effect magical.<br /><br />On its deathbed<br /><br />Puppetry had once ruled the fledgling shadow theatre scene. But that was a long time ago. The genre, definitely, was on its deathbed. Researching, the YT play’s artistic director, Ranji David found no proof of a revival. It was then he decided to carve out a new path. “I thought why not take on this new genre of work, bring a new perspective and do a series of plays completely in the shadow format,” recalled Ranji.<br /><br />Traditionally, shadow plays had relied on fire and the colour yellow to add layers to puppet animations. The group chose the parcan to play with lights, but soon realised its limitations. YT’s trial with its first shadow play, “Hamlet” had to graduate, and fast.<br /><br /> Eventually, the group found an answer in PC and Transparency Projectors. Mixing lanterns and torches, slides and graphic designs, YT took its first firm steps to master an all-new method. Last Friday’s sell-out performance at YT’s own space, Alma on CMH Road, Indiranagar, was proof that it worked.<br /><br />Simply put, the technique of projecting designer backgrounds onto a screen and letting actors move their shadows in sync with Macbeth, the three witches and a complementing corporate setup, had clicked with the viewers. Enthused by this response, YT is now all set to take up the next three Shakespearean tragedies in the series: Romeo and Juliett, Othello and King Lear. “This journey of creating a new theatrical language has been quite exciting. We now want to explore more, take this method to bigger auditoriums, larger audiences...” said Ranji. <br /><br />Yet, as YT goes a shade deeper into the genre, the group will retain its trademark interactive link with the audience. <br /><br />The parallel narratives will continue to be nourished by real-life stories. The shadows of Shakespeare’s characters will fall distinctly on the contemporary humanscape. For, YT knows that without this connection, the shadows wouldn’t move !<br /></p>
<p>Curtains, there were none. But, once the motley crowd converged in eager anticipation, the pale white screen inside the compact theatre space came dramatically alive. <br /><br /></p>.<p>In one fleeting moment, the screen turned a sweeping canvas, as distinctly human silhouettes moved to the beats of an old Shakespearean play. The audience were about to witness arguably the city’s first full-scale play in a hitherto restricted shadow play format. <br /><br />Manipulating light, devising new ways to block its path to sculpt shades of moving figures, the Yours Truly theatre group was attempting a big leap in visual artistry. The city’s theatre buffs had seen actors unleash their full-faced oratory, sighed in disbelief at the mastery of costume design. <br /><br />But for this piece of theatre, “The Corporate Politics of Macbeth,” the actors had shed their collective identity, letting their forms and voices to take over. The technique was fresh, the effect magical.<br /><br />On its deathbed<br /><br />Puppetry had once ruled the fledgling shadow theatre scene. But that was a long time ago. The genre, definitely, was on its deathbed. Researching, the YT play’s artistic director, Ranji David found no proof of a revival. It was then he decided to carve out a new path. “I thought why not take on this new genre of work, bring a new perspective and do a series of plays completely in the shadow format,” recalled Ranji.<br /><br />Traditionally, shadow plays had relied on fire and the colour yellow to add layers to puppet animations. The group chose the parcan to play with lights, but soon realised its limitations. YT’s trial with its first shadow play, “Hamlet” had to graduate, and fast.<br /><br /> Eventually, the group found an answer in PC and Transparency Projectors. Mixing lanterns and torches, slides and graphic designs, YT took its first firm steps to master an all-new method. Last Friday’s sell-out performance at YT’s own space, Alma on CMH Road, Indiranagar, was proof that it worked.<br /><br />Simply put, the technique of projecting designer backgrounds onto a screen and letting actors move their shadows in sync with Macbeth, the three witches and a complementing corporate setup, had clicked with the viewers. Enthused by this response, YT is now all set to take up the next three Shakespearean tragedies in the series: Romeo and Juliett, Othello and King Lear. “This journey of creating a new theatrical language has been quite exciting. We now want to explore more, take this method to bigger auditoriums, larger audiences...” said Ranji. <br /><br />Yet, as YT goes a shade deeper into the genre, the group will retain its trademark interactive link with the audience. <br /><br />The parallel narratives will continue to be nourished by real-life stories. The shadows of Shakespeare’s characters will fall distinctly on the contemporary humanscape. For, YT knows that without this connection, the shadows wouldn’t move !<br /></p>
