“King Lear” Gets A New Avatar In Kashmir Theatres

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oi-Staff

By Staff

Wednesday, July 8, 2009, 11:56

It is very much true that there is no other maestro to replace William Shakespeare when it comes to literature and theatres. William Shakespeare's plays have always inspired theatre artists all around the world. Now, Shakespeare's “King Lear" inspires the theatre artists in the Kashmir valley.

Theatre experts and artistes in Jammu and Kashmir have lent a regional touch to William Shakespeare's famous play 'King Lear'. The play was presented in a traditional folk style with the original Shakespeare's King Lear translated into Kashmiri language. The play was titled as 'Badshah Paether.'

'Badshah Paether' was performed at Akingam village of Anantnag district, 70 kilometers off Srinagar. Traditional Kashmiri folk artists enthralled hundreds of locals as well as tourists by their performance in the play. The main aim of staging the play in the traditional folk style has been to bring together the youngsters and the veterans together and to revive the artistic links through training and series of rehearsals.

Noted theatre personality M K Raina was the driving force behind this theatre performance. He considers that his experiment was a success in many aspects since this would empower the young stage aspirants with a traditional form that is losing its reach and appreciation. He had undertaken the painstaking efforts of translating Shakespeare's original play so that common audience could easily understand it.

The emotion of the play and the basic story came through very clearly. It was beautifully performed with great intensity and beautiful staging and lot of expressions. The locals too expressed their delight since the play happened to be in their regional language.