In the many years since his passing, the adoration and respect for Shakespeare in the British milieu has only grown. As one of Britain’s finest playwrights, Shakespeare’s pen has given life to the many relationships that make this country. At the same time, for those outside of Britain and particularly those who share a tumultuous relationship with Britain, Shakespeare’s works have presented opportunities for belonging and dialogue. While Shakespeare’s works invite attention to the sharedness of love and loss amongst us all, they also extend an invitation to reclaim these feelings in one’s own vernacular. This concert – Shakespearean Raga – is an attempt to answer the prompt that Shakespeare offers.

Conceived and performed by an ensemble of Indian and British artists, this concert puts the Bard’s works in conversation with the rich tradition of Indian classical music. It spotlights Indian classical music’s powerful ability to translate human emotions in moving ways.

The concert re-imagines several running emotional themes in Shakespeare’s works through classical compositions and improvisations from the Hindustani and Carnatic traditions of Indian music. Using handpicked ragas and compositions, this production underlines the universality of Shakespeare’s works and Indian classical music, bridging borders of geography, time, culture and language.

Preetha Nirmala (Edinburgh (UK); Carnatic vocals)
Raghavi Viswanath (Florence (IT); Carnatic vocals)
Sagar Joshi (Eindhoven (NL); Sitar)
Leena Khagram-Dhar (London (UK); Tabla)
Shashank Puranik (London (UK); flute)
Ben Donnelly (London (UK); keyboard and clarinet)
Jigyasa Anand (London (UK); Spoken Word).
Shrija Kumari (Edinburgh (UK); Spoken Word)

Production Crew:

Direction: Preetha Nirmala and Raghavi Viswanath
Script: Jenna Colaco
Creative Content Design: Aswin Gopakumar
Event and Experience Management: Sreedev Chembakasseril