Bryan Russo with participants at the workshop. Picture by Biplab Basak

Jalpaiguri, Oct. 3: Macbeth and the three witches conversing in Rajbanshi. Lady Macbeth crying ?out damned spot? in the same dialect. King Lear taking to the dais with the sound of dholaks, tablas and flutes reverberating in the background.

The Shakespeare Society of Eastern India is spreading the Bard?s word among the local people by giving his plays the jatra touch and local flavour.

Giving the society a helping hand is Iman, a drama group, which recently organised a three-day workshop at Prasannadev Women?s College in the town.

?We wanted to portray Shakespeare?s works in our own way with the help of folk instruments to reach out to the masses. The workshop was organised to help students with their line delivery and voice modulation, which would be suited to the local styles,? said Saibal Bose, the secretary of the group.

?Amitava Roy, the president of the Shakespeare Society of Eastern India, and Bryan Russo, a Fulbright professor of drama from USA who is attached to Rabindra Bharati University, were present at the workshop along with 27 participants,? said Bose.

?Shakespeare?s works have global appeal. They have been adapted according to the local culture in many nations. Audiences have accepted such changes,? he said.

Roy said experimentation with the Bard?s works was fairly new in this country. ?We feel Shakespeare?s plays, with their use of music and assortment of costumes, are akin in some ways to our folk plays. That is why we thought of an integration of Shakespearean script with our local drama style,? he said.

Roy also spoke of how the audience had appreciated the works of different groups performed in their own styles and dialects at the World Shakespeare Conference, which was convened in Calcutta in 2000.

?The modification of the Bard?s works according to the culture of a particular place has been a big hit in the international arena. Different people have interpreted the plays in their own, unique way, adding a special touch to the works,? said Russo.