Prakriti Foundation’s commitment to theatre brought us inevitably to Shakespeare’s work, except that we were interested in exploring the Indian twist – how have Indian individuals and groups, actors and directors chosen to interpret Shakespeare? We remind people that ‘Indian’ doesn’t mean a single, identifiable essence. What is unique about the festival is that Shakespeare is presented in Indian languages.

In this masterpiece written by Steven Berkoff, Hamlet and Ophelia express the infinite variety of their passion in a work which takes the form of an epistolary play in verse. The drama charts the lovers` story beneath the surface of Shakespeare`s play. With a muscularity of language tempered with tenderness, the play is shot through with images of courtly love, sexual desire and intimations of future tragedy. Theatre Nisha formed in 2000 has more than 35 plays to its credit in the last ten years, apart from working with schools, colleges and other institutions. More than 1000 persons have worked and participated with Theatre Nisha in the same time. Its productions of last year were Rashmi Rathi, Asghar, The Woman King, and Notes to a young actor, Kadaigal, The Ramayana. V. Balakrishnan graduated from the Sri Ram Centre for Performing Arts and the National School of Drama (Acting Specialization). He was awarded the Charles Wallace scholarship to work as a Director in the Royal Court Theatre’s International Residency Programme in London.