On a cold, wintery night, I escaped the Perth rain and entered a lecture hall. As I walked through the Mural Room in the Blue Room Theatre, I was given a pencil and workbook. With excerpts from Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and As You Like It explored with Raaga Revati, followed by questions such as “What is Raaga?” and “Who is Shakespeare?”, we were prompted to engage with this piece in real-time. The walls were covered in chalk scrawls of Shakespearean and philosophical statements. There was a sense of immediacy as the audience walked in and took their seats. The ambience in the room was partly due to the haze from the smoke machine and warm lighting, and partly due to the welcoming atmosphere created by the presence of desi people. There is a distinctive warmth in their presence, perhaps reflecting the cultural richness and adaptability that comes from living in one of the most densely populated regions in the world.
Raagas, Shakespeare and Everything in Between. Photography supplied.
As the lesson started and the teacher mentioned the workbooks, my desi friend who came with me laughed about the fact that we were given homework. I learned about the art of Raaga, a Sanskrit word meaning “to colour”. It is composed of up to seven swaras, which are the notes of Indian classical music. It creates an impression of an emotion. As a flustered student walked in at the start of the class, she missed the cues and couldn’t find the rhythm with the rest of the class. The teacher gently told her she could just listen; she didn’t need to sing and clap in rhythm. As the class progressed, the three students started dancing around with an intoxicating flow that brewed around the room as they worked up the space. Wearing colourful saris with rich hues, there was a moment when a blue light cast on an orange sari stood out in my memory. It probably had something to do with the neon effect of the orange under that light, flicking some switch in my brain reminiscent of the happy colours of a rave.
While moving about the room, the students chanted respective vignettes about love in that longing Shakespearean way. The acting was enchanting as they all spoke just loudly enough to be heard. Even the more impassioned outbursts were delivered with a controlled and precise intensity, so as not to overwhelm the listener. The chanting, haze, lighting, and some other unspoken element made it atmospheric. It felt like we were sitting in a humid classroom somewhere in India. As the teacher demonstrated swaras, the audience then joined in. It broke the fourth wall in an immersive way, making the audience characters in the story. After the teacher articulated certain sounds, she asked the students what feelings they evoked. With responses like heartbreak, parents’ death, feeling in love, and the like, I remembered that this show is also about Shakespeare. He loved that dramatic shit. After the students offered their responses, the teacher extended her question to the crowd, once again in that gently encouraging way, inviting the audience of students to share anything if they wanted to. Perth crowds tend to be quite reserved when it comes to interacting with shows and showing their appreciation, so the soft and open-ended communication that Indian people are known for was the perfect match for a reserved Perth theatre crowd.
Raagas, Shakespeare and Everything in Between. Photography supplied.
As the teacher prompted everyone to open their workbooks, my friend next to me sensed my eagerness and gently handed the pencil in my direction. It was the first time I’d written while reviewing a show, which I’ve noticed some reviewers do. I started writing not to take notes for my review, but because I wanted to remember the cultural lessons I’d just received. I didn’t come into this wanting to see a Shakespearean show, as it’s overdone and I’m a little bored with the omnipresent Eurocentric narratives. I found this multicultural exploration refreshing, despite being initially taken aback when I walked into a room full of desi people and became a minority. This is the kind of diversity desperately needed in Perth’s theatre scene.
Raagas, Shakespeare and Everything in Between is on at The Blue Room Theatre from 16-20 July.