Shakespeare with a twist in Aadyam's first play

NEW DELHI:

Aadyam

's latest offering is about a troupe of clowns down on their luck. Cinematograph's 'I Don't Like It. As You Like It', directed by Rajat Kapoor, will be staged on May 21 and 22 at Kamani Auditorium. The play, featuring Vinay Pathak, Joy Fernandes, Cyrus Sahukar, Aadar Malik and Faezah Jalali among others, revolves around the clowning troupe's constant bickering and financial woes. In the middle of all this drama, the director decides that the men will

play

women and women, men, in a Shakespearean play that kicks off a journey of self-discovery for the entire cast. "The most interesting thing about this play is that I'm getting to do Shakespeare in gibberish as a clown with my friends Rajat Kapoor and Joy Fernandes," said actor Vinay Pathak, adding that the rest of the cast are also "wonderful talents" and he is "ecstatic" to be a part of the play. Kapoor's interpretation of the Shakespearean classic retains the larger motifs of relationships and how they're put to test, while setting it in a different world filled with clowns. For co-actor Aadar Malik, the most exciting thing about this production is the chance to embody many personas while playing a single

role

. "I'm a clown, playing a woman, dressed as a man, pretending to be a woman," he explained. Aadyam, an initiative by the Aditya Birla Group in association with The Times of India, will unfold over 45 shows across seven months in Mumbai and Delhi. 'I Don't Like It. As You Like It' will be followed by Arpana

Theatre

's 'Loretta', Aarambh's 'Ladies Sangeet', RAGE Theatre's 'Twelve Angry Jurors' and Essay PPL's 'Chakkar chakkar'. "The fact that the Aditya Birla Group is interested in theatre is in itself a huge thing," said Pathak, "and the great thing about Aadyam is that they are taking up new and enthusiastic artistes in theatre - new playwrights, new directors and giving them a huge platform." Malik is just as enthusiastic. "The access to a much wider audience that comes with Aadyam is quite incredible," he said. "I hope to see more plays that have an unorthodox format reach an audience that may have never seen performances like this before."