(From top) Supple’s production of Haroun and the Sea of Stories; Judy Dench in Coriolanus; Parminder Nagra in Twelfth Night

For the first time, the Bard?s birthplace will see a Shakespeare play with a pan-Asian cast and a British director. The summer of 2006 will have a bunch of Indian actors staging A Midsummer Night?s Dream at the Shakespeare festival hosted by Royal Shakespeare Company in London. The project, commissioned by British Council India, is being steered by critically acclaimed stage director Tim Supple.

Having previously worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, Supple is now in the final stages of finalising 20 actors for the production to be staged at the Swan Theatre from June 7 to 17.

The London-based director had conducted auditions of around ?350 to 400? young theatre workers across the country, in Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Pondicherry, Thiruvananthapuram and Calcutta. Having picked 60-odd candidates, Supple called them to Mumbai for a week-long workshop and to whittle down the list to 20.

?Supple brought the Manipuri contingent to Calcutta and there are three people from Sri Lanka for the final casting. The bunch comprises people speaking English, Bengali, Marathi and Sinhalese, among other languages. Supple believes that theatre gets across, and language is not a factor,? said Prof Ananda Lal of Jadavpur University, who is assisting Supple as the acting consultant for the production.

Supple is also hunting for the backstage crew, including choreographer, costume designer, music director and assistant director.

Calcutta got a glimpse of Supple?s dramatic skills when he brought down Royal Shakespeare Company?s A Comedy of Errors in 1997. His major assignments in London include serving as the artistic director of London?s Young Vic, directing Dame Judy Dench and Kenneth Branagh in Coriolanus for the Hollywood actor?s Renaissance theatre company, besides working on several classics from William Faulkner to Lorca.

Supple?s stage adaptation of Salman Rushdie?s Haroun and the Sea of Stories fetched critical acclaim. He has also dabbled in television, directing the Channel Four production of Twelfth Night, featuring Bend It Like Beckham star Parminder Nagra.

?A Midsummer Night?s Dream was Supple?s choice and he primarily wanted a young cast. So, he is going for very physically malleable actors. The play won?t be exotic. Supple will be approaching it realistically. He won?t tamper with the text much,? added Lal.

The final group will gather in Pondicherry at theatre veteran Veenapani Chawla?s Adishakti complex in January, where the participants will go through a six-week rehearsal.

?The idea is to have a creative collaboration with a British director, local talents and their interdisciplinary skills,? said Samarjit Guha, head, programmes, British Council, east India.

After premiering in Chennai in March 2006, A Midsummer Night?s Dream will tour Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Chandigarh, Calcutta, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and then Sri Lanka.

In collaboration with the British Council, the production will travel to Royal Shakespeare Company?s International Complete Works of Shakespeare Festival in the summer of 2006.