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IIM Indore witnessed two and a half hours of marvellous theatre performance of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice on February 28, 2020. This classic play’s adaptation was directed by Professor Dr. Shweta Kushal, Faculty, IIM Indore. The cast consisted of 17 actors and actresses from various programmes of the Institute, who put their best foot forward after three months of rigorous practice. The play was attended by the entire IIM Indore community, army officers from Mhow, special invitees and theatre lovers from the city.
‘This is the first time our team is staging a play by William Shakespeare. We all are very excited about the performance. I have tried to put in a more humanised version of the characters on stage, rather than the stereotypical depictions’, said Professor Kushal, the director of the play.
Summary:
Antonio, an antisemitic merchant, takes a loan from the Jew, Shylock, to help his friend Bassanio to court Portia. Antonio, in arrogance, agrees to the contract as he believes that he will be able to repay the loan. Unfortunately, he can not repay the loan, and without mercy, Shylock demands a pound of his flesh in return. Shylock is also upset as his daughter had eloped with Antonio’s friends. The heiress Portia, now the wife of Bassanio, dresses as a lawyer and saves Antonio. The play depicts multiple emotions depicting love, anger, rage, discrimination, wisdom, friendship, justice, hatred, jealousy, greed and more.
‘I believe these last 3 months have been a great learning experience, from both personal and professional point of view. I loved how there were people from different academic programmes in the play and how it brought us all together. Our play director, Professor Shweta Kushal did her very best in trying to bring out the best in us. Overall, it was a perfect experience for me in learning and growing, as a team’, said Gaurav Pareek who plays Gratiano.
Actors:
Akansh Khandelwal (FPM 2019) as Antonio
Saumya Kothari (IPM 2019-24) as Shylock
Rachit Agarwal (IPM 2018) as Bassanio
Shreya Surana (IPM 2015-20) as Portia
Gaurav Pareek (PGP 2018-20) as Gratiano
Mansi Tomar (PGP 2019-21) as Nerissa
Deksha Gupta (IPM 2015-20) as Jessica
Miraz Mondal (PGP 2019-21) as Lorenzo
Ashwani Kumar (IPM 2016-21) as Solanio
Atul Yadav (PGP 2019-21) as Salerio
Vaibhav Gupta (IPM 2015-20) as Stephano
Chiara as Ribeiro (IPM 2017-22) as Duchess
Joseph Benny (IPM 2018) as Prince of Morocco
Aradhya Vats (IPM 2015-20) as Angelina
Yash Meshram (PGP 2018-20) as Prince of Bombay
Prachi Jain (FPM 2019) as Guinevere
Kaviya (IPM 2016-21) as Mother Gobbo
Crew:
Shatakshi Huddar (IPM 2017-22), Rahul Kisku (PGP 2018-20)