ABSTRACT
This chapter examines two productions from the subcontinent: the first a colonial production that cast a Bengali actor in the role of Othello, and the second a contemporary production of Hamlet that integrated the conventions of the indigenous jatra theater. Shakespeare's function as a signifier of colonial oppression has been well documented; the work of Ania Loomba, Jyotsna Singh, and Rustom Bharucha contextualizes Shakespeare in an Indian discourse. Moving away from binary rigidity and toward what Niels Herold labels "performed hybridity", in his essay "Movers and Losers: Shakespeare in Charge and Shakespeare Behind Bars" foregrounds "the fragmentary nature of all identities". Originally a colonial import, Shakespeare took on an iconic, transcendental status in India that was cemented through the passage of the Indian Education Act of 1835 that mandated an English language curriculum. Ghouse's Hamlet reflects a postcolonialist, postmodernist reinvention of India and "Indianness" through his appropriation of Shakespeare.
