An evening of Shakespeare with budding actors with an obvious love for the stage, speaking clearly and with poise and confidence is an opportunity not to be missed. The Keshar Academy of Learning production of “As We Like It”, a compilation of Shakespearean Sonnets and Scenes drew a medium audience of very appreciative theatre lovers on Saturday 6 November at Umaji Chowgule’s residence, Vasco.

The stage set, the lighting and particularly the costumes transported us to that special world of make-believe. The music, mainly baroque, which could have been more Italian than Bach, created the varying moods effectively. The opening sequence with fairies winsomely dancing with fluttering lights, the introductory speeches and the dance that followed, lovingly choreographed and elegantly executed, set the mood.

The scenes from Romeo and Juliet showcased an outstanding actress. Her range of voice, expression and body language set her apart. She holds great promise as an accomplished actress. Romeo too was an upcoming actor. The witches in Macbeth came alive in the well differentiated trio of voices and mannerisms. The lighting, the burning cauldron and the attention paid to the details of the “ingredients” of the witches’ brew were excellent. A Midsummer Night’s Dream was very successful, an audience pleaser, the players showing comic flair. Lady Macbeth was impressive at times, almost catching the struggling determination of an intensely supportive wife. Sonnet 130 was deliciously delivered and there was some relish in Sonnet 116 but the other sonnets were “words, words, words”, delicious verbal music, their “meaning” lost in sound.

Roxana Singh, the main impetus behind this theatre experience elaborates in her programme notes what that experience can be and distinguishes it from drama. But we are experiencing live theatre. As elocution, the selections received an exemplary delivery. The problem was that theatre is not elocution; consequently, most of the performances were lacking in dramatic intensity.

The court scene in The Merchant of Venice is charged with the suspense of the impending murder of Antonio and Portia holds the audience and the characters onstage gasping with her punchline. The staging had Portia and Nerissa in the middle, the Jew on one side and the Christians on the other side, generally seated! The Duke of Venice was decorative. Realistically, the Christian friends would be crowded around Antonio trying to prevent the Jew from killing him. Portia would be balancing the suspense, enjoying the power of defeating the Jew. The young actress, who had an appropriately sweet, lucid voice recited rather than lived her part.

In Julius Caesar, Mark Antony’s speech is etched in time as one of the greatest speeches ever delivered. Antony has to respond to his audience’s changing moods. In Shakespeare’s hands, Antony emerges as a master psychologist manipulating words and emotions to turn the antagonistic audience against Brutus, who has won favour with them. In performance, the “audience” was very static, merely a presence, a platform for the speech that was a recitation more suited to an Elocution Competition than Shakespearean theatre. In theatre, interaction between the actors takes predominance. That key element sadly seemed to occupy a secondary position in this production.

Jacques reciting “The Seven Ages of Man” from As AsYou Like It dressed as a clown was an excuse for a marvellous costume. The play has one of Shakespeare’s best clowns, Touchstone. Jacques is a courtier but has adopted a pompous cynicism, an air of superiority, a misfit in the Forest of Arden complacency adopted by the banished Duke and his followers. His speech is a bitter diatribe on Man, a totally negative picture. The delivery must capture the sneer, the disdain of the man. It didn’t. Once again, the performance was a travesty of the dramatic context.

It’s such a pity that the enormous effort put into mounting such an ambitious undertaking, that the flair that characterised the entire production should be marred by an inadequate grasp of the context of Shakespearean drama.

Nonetheless, it was an eye-opening evening that generated a sense of achievement in the entire cast and crew. Shakespeare put together by an enthusiastic, dedicated team of youngsters and adults is irresistible and thoroughly worthwhile. The audience had the good fortune of experiencing a rare well-mounted experience of the Bard’s genius. The Bard would smile indulgently at an arduous attempt to portray his genius.