I had studied the play as part of my Senior Cambridge syllabus in school, so I was familiar with the text. But nothing prepared me for the experience of watching this particular production which took every facet of theatre to a new level.

First there was the business of the languages used. Malayalam, Sinhalese, Hindi, Bengali English and even a bit of Sanskrit! And strangely, it all sounded so right! After all, what else do you do with a text that has become so familiar that it’s lost some of its magic-but render it in new tongues to give it a freshness and to represent the length and breadth of the two countries involved? For a play that has become part of the collective consciousness of the English speaking world, the idea to allow the sheer theatre of it all to speak directly to the audience was not only audacious but logical as well.

Then there was the seductive, almost dream like quality of the sets and the costumes. Having been a long time admirer of the genius of Sumant Jayakrishnan, I was still taken aback with the purity of his vision. Red earth, rope, muslin, thatch and branches were the materials with which he cast a mesmerizing spell on the audience. The simplicity and beauty of the visuals stayed long with me even after the last bow taken by the actors.

And what actors they were, bringing to the production a universe of varied traditions: street theatre, professional theatre, martial arts, acrobatics, classical theatre and urban amateur weekend production values. All melded together to create a production that was as inclusive, as diverse as vibrant as the world itself. Such a far cry from the straitjacketed, formal, moth eaten renditions of Shakespeare that I had grown tired of watching. The performances were contemporary in their feel, global in their approach and real in their enactment.

But above all, A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream was a triumph of one man’s vision supported by a generous and far thinking body. The commissioning of Tim Supple by the British Council to produce a play from India and Sri Lanka was an inspired act, one that surely will set the stage for future, out of the box approaches to traditional texts.

A few weeks after watching the Dash Arts Production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream I found myself in the audience at another Shakespearean play produced by a local theatre company. It was excruciating, more so because of the experience I’d had just a few weeks before and I found myself recoiling from the heavy sets, the stilted deliveries, the faux English accents, and the studied, deathly-predictability of it all.

No sir, Tim Supple and his able crew have spoilt us for life. Never again will audiences be content to watch the bard’s great works presented without verve, without flair and without inspiration. I am informed that from Mumbai the production went on to England and is now slated for international touring. What a pleasant thought it is that many more people will experience that joy, surprise and beauty that I had when I watched Tim Supple’s version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As for me, Shakespeare will never be the same again!

Malavika Sangghvi is Consulting Editor DNA