William Shakespeare should be the widest known English playwright to the local gallery. How could one man have been privileged with such fame for centuries? Scribes from all walks of life share one theory: Shakespearean themes are but universal. Running your eye on century-old writings is nevertheless no plain sailing. Only a few in the local intelligentsia got enough nerve to establish the Bard in the local scene. Tony Ranasinghe perches high in that dovecote.
Julius Caesar does not stand close to Hamlet or Othello or Macbeth. Its duration is relatively shorter and do not contain the natural Shakespearean features. But still it is one of the most referred creative works in socio-politic analyses. In his 167-page introduction, Tony spells out the Elizabethan era and Shakespeare to the Sinhala reader; an excellent as well as thoroughgoing effort for the sake of especially the Sinhala-only reader, probably a theatre enthusiast.
Tony was born in a period when both the Holy Bible and Complete Works of Shakespeare were made compulsory by the British rulers in Ceylon.
"When it comes to Shakespeare, I was quite an eager beaver in my schooldays. I used to read all his plays, if not, at least anything else written on him. Hamlet captivated me most." Septuagenarian Tony recalls his heydays.
There are times, even now, Tony sits back to enjoy his journey with the 16th century poet. Anything to come by.
"In fact I reduced the duration of the play. I thought it might not go for the Sinhala audience. Julius Caesar is a craftsman-like job, but it provokes cheers only from the serious theatre enthusiasts."
The play wraps up the story of conspiracy against Roman dictator Julius Caesar bringing in elements such as patriotism and honour. Ernest Schanzer in his 'Problem Plays of Shakespeare' attempts to justify why it is problematic:
"Julius Caesar is one of Shakespeare's most controversial plays. Commentators have been quite unable to agree on who is its principal character of whether is has one; on whether it is a tragedy and, if so, of what kind; on whether Shakespeare wants us to consider the assassination as damnable or praiseworthy; while of all the chief characters in the play contradictory interpretations have been given."
As Schanzer aptly suggests, Julius Caesar is a problem play, more than a tragedy, comedy or tragicomedy. It questions the age-old recipe of political thinking. When Brutus takes the lead role in the conspiracy against Caesar, the former genuinely feels it is for the benefit of the society though his behaviour is naturally put into question by the subsequent turn of events signaling signs of impending doom.
When Bandula Withanage produced 'Merchant of Venice' in Sinhala as Venisiye Velenda, it would have been no play at all had not Tony starred 'famous' Shylock. It should have been the most famous local work for its commonplace features such as subplots and comic characters. It proved its unmatched mettle when the gallery was not much interested in other Shakespeare productions such as 'Midsummer Night's Dream' by both Tony and Bandula.
"I really wanted to produce and play live roles. Unfortunately I grew up old, passing that stage before long."
The good old days of Tower Hall, recollects Tony, saw plays such as Othello, Macbeth and even Anthony & Cleopatra produced on the local stage. It offers fresh historical evidence on the way Shakespeare had been remodeled on the local stage.
Shakespeare had no academic credentials. What he read sharpened his style. He knew people from all pillars of the earth - it could have been a beggar, prostitute, lawyer, mayor or a professor - and he could get closer to them in writing. What he had used as contemporary in his times now seems quite old world. Tony apparently had challenges in translating a centuries-old inscription. Which mode should be ideal: idiomatic, conversational or classical?
"I don't think it is right to go into extremes. You should make use of all these modes. Then only you can achieve what you need."
"The script was not something like this when I first brought up Caesar on the stage. I made several changes in the translation before it went to press. I am very grateful to Prem Dissanayaka for publishing this. I will keep tabs on the sales and think of following up with publishing the rest of my translations of Othello, Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night."
Shakespeare remains too refined to translate for some scholars. How do you translate, for instance, Hamlet's famous quote: 'to be or not to be, that's the question'! Hamlet, Tony points out, is the most famous play which will go on steadily even though other plays might be extinct. "True, you cannot translate something so refined. But most of these plays are translated into Japanese, German and a host of other languages too. I am not sure whether it is an irony or not."
The best way, I think, is to perform the Shakespeare. They are written to be staged and performed rather than to be read in leisure. "But at the same time we should be careful not to go for adaptations. If you remodel him into a Kandyan set up, Shakespeare will be lost. We should always go for originals, especially because our Sinhala audience is not much familiar with the plot outlines." The 16th century poet gradually invaded the silver screen and then the small screen. But Tony is still in love with the stage.
"That is where you get the essence. You get a live feedback, then you are motivated to give life to the characters."
It's simply like painting for Tony. Everybody believed painting will be gone forever with the advent of photography. But painting evolved with more and more branches like impressionism and expressionism. Stage did, and continue to, refresh the audience. How could have Shakespeare stolen the show when there were other men like Christopher Marlowe, Ben Johnson and Thomas Kid too in the scene? William Shakespeare was a man who was smart to figure out the pulse of the commoner, because he was one himself. The surge of hardships in life, which were constantly at the ready, helped him sidestep his genius contemporaries.
When Tony translated the biography of Dilip Kumar, it was a sentimental experience to him.
"Dilip Kumar has an unsurpassed flair for acting. But as time passed by he was stuck to that, so people got a little bored of him. You know an actor should be updated and should never outshine the character he is given. For example you can never see Marlon Brando or Lawrence Olivier as a carter. Because they outshine the character."
This work is only a first step, Tony says, and someone should do a more brilliant translation. Shakespeare is quite old world, I may be repeating, but doesn't modern English use many of his expressions? Quite a paradox, or is it not?
Et tu, Brute? - Then fall, Caesar!
http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/06/17/art01.asp
