HAMLET - THE CLOWN PRINCE Play Review

Can anyone think of a comical adaptation of the legendary tragic play HAMLET by Shakespeare? The Company Theatre successfully delivers such a play. If Shakespearean tragedy is not your cup of tea, its lighter and comic counterpart is sure to regale you with laughter.



A bunch of clowns decide to put up a show of HAMLET. They interpret the text to their convenience and sabotage the play intentionally. The production starts with clown Soso's (Atul Kumar) monologue in gibberish. He is addressing the audience about the play and is getting ready to play his part. Even with his gibberish, Atul could not have been more eloquent. He rightly ends his monologue by saying "all this and much more can I truly deliver." Soon we are introduced to the other clowns and their ring master Popo (Sujay Saple). Fido (Neil Bhoopalam) is cute and adorable. He keeps getting out of character while playing King Claudius and the Ghost of Hamlet's father.

Some scenes in the play are indeed remarkable and unforgettable. There is a lovely scene where Soso expresses his love for the female clown Phi-Phi by saying " doubt the sun, doubt the moon, but don't doubt my love for you." Nothing could be more romantic. The scenes where Hamlet is interacting with the ghost of his father and the monologues by Hamlet (Atul Kumar) and Ophelia (Kalki Koechlin) are worth a watch.

Then there is a scene where Soso turns up late for the show and gets into a quarrel with Nemo (Namit Das) who thinks he is a trained actor and should be playing the lead role. The clowns manage to make much fun of each and everything under the sun with ease. In sum, each of the actors played their parts brilliantly. Namit Das and Puja Sarup lend their voices to sing beautiful songs in gibberish and in English. The music of the play complements the scenes perfectly. The costumes and the makeup are also very good. The credit goes to Rajat Kapoor's direction which is innovative and unique.

Though the ending of the play is revealed at the beginning, it doesn't mar the excitement. The power house performances of the clowns keep the audience hooked to the play. Gibberish, if not used well, can be annoying but in this production, it is a tour de force. The production as Prince Hamlet says, "will make your eyes pop out, hair stand and heart wrench."

*Astha Arora acts in Yatri's productions. She has a graduate degree in Mass Media and is now pursuing her Masters in Journalism.