I wanted to do this play since I was 11 or 12 years old!” said Tim Supple, director of the hugely popular play Midsummer Night’s Dream. Two years in the making, the play which was commissioned by the British Council has an Indian and Sri Lankan cast. The play, which did a tour of the UK, is now back on the homeground and this time Bangalore was on the list. The play dazzled the City’s audience with its power-packed performances, amazing sets and of course, good direction. Metrolife caught up with the director to learn about this inter-cultural journey.

Supple was asked by the British Council to take on a production with Indian actors and his first visit to India was in 2005 when he came to meet and audition the cast. He loved the energy, the different aspects of Indian theatre and his multilingual cast. The play is in eight different languages- English, Tamil, Malayalam, Sinhalese, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi and a bit of Sanskrit. “It’s the multilingualism that makes it special. It has given us an intent to communicate with people,” said Supple. So what makes this production different from the other renditions of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’? “Well, it has been done so many times in so many different ways so I can’t really say this is `the’ different one, but it certainly is unique because of its multilingualism and also the fact that it is a bit serious when compared to the usual comic adaptations of the play, it’s also very physical and dynamic. In fact, there are no dips in the play.”

What differences does he find between Indian and the UK theatre? Says Tim, “There are many differences but the first thing you notice is that in the UK, there is theatre at different places but it is homogeneous to a great extent because of the funding by the arts council and of course, we have only one language. I have been in theatre for almost 22 years and I have always been working with state subsidies. India, unfortunately, doesn’t have the same kind of consistent state funding. And the theatre scene in each city is almost independent. Another difference is that in India, there is a lot of tradition rooted in the plays whereas in the UK, it’s about breaking tradition!”

 One major aspect that Supple liked and found distinctly different in Indian theatre was their comfort with the physical space, “In India, there are a lot of stylised movements and actors are great at it. In the UK, they don’t have that kind of physical movement, they are uncomfortable with it.” The physicality of the play is certainly amazing. The actors were trained and professional martial art experts and acrobats were roped in.

Supple himself can speak only one language that is English, which has been used in the play. So, how did he come to know of what was happening? “Well, I knew what they were saying because I knew that there were professional translators and writers who had written these lines. Moreover, I am familiar with the original,” informed Supple. The writers deserve a credit because not only did they translated the text as closely as possible to the original, but also maintained its lyrical quality.

The play is certainly a success in India, as one of the actors pointed out, not just because of its ‘Indian’ presentation but also because the context of Shakespeare’s play is closer to India. Magic and forbidden love are themes that Indian audiences can still relate to. So how did audience in the UK react to the play? Says Supple, “Well, actually they enjoyed it as much if not more than the Indian audience. That is because they are very familiar with Shakespeare’s works and are constantly looking for change and different adaptations. In fact, that is what being a director in the UK is all about, experimenting constantly.”

Having watched the play, it seems almost obvious why they chose Shakespeare - the story can still cross cultural and linguistic barriers and the lyrical verse can still charm the audiences. But the credit must go to the team that was able to present such an enthralling production. For taking the audience through such an enchanting journey, Tim Supple can certainly add another feather to his cap.