Cast of A Woman or Not To Be
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS
“To be, or not to be: that is the question.”More than four centuries after William Shakespeare’s Hamlet first posed this existential dilemma, Adishakti Theatre’s upcoming play, A Woman or Not To Be, returns to the classic tragedy but with a twist: what if Hamlet were a woman?Written and directed by Vinay Kumar and to be showcased at Alliance Française of Madras on June 6, the play reimagines Shakespeare’s troubled prince as Princess Hamlet, a young woman navigating grief, rage, suspicion and a relentless search for justice. At a time when we are still struggling with women’s rights, the production uses Hamlet’s story to examine larger questions of male privilege, revenge, emotional freedom and how society responds differently to women who express anger. The idea for the play came from disturbing news that Vinay encountered about a young woman who was attacked after rejecting a man’s proposal, which eventually led him back to Shakespeare’s text. Hamlet here is a modern young woman who loves manga and anime. One day, she receives the devastating news from home, only to find her mother, the Queen, murdered, and her aunt now married to her father. In her dream, her mother’s ghostly figure urges her not to seek revenge but to protect herself and complete her education.“When I looked at Hamlet and other canonical works, I began asking what ethical difference exists between these acts and the violence we continue to see around us today,” says Vinay. Vinay began wondering whether Hamlet’s actions and agency would be viewed differently if the character were female. “If Hamlet is a princess instead of a prince, will she get the same agency that the male Hamlet gets?” he asks. “Will she be allowed to brood, seek revenge, and pursue justice in the same way?”
