Theatre: what does the Bard have to do with the pandemic?

Ivan Gabriel plays Will Shakespeare in new theatre show 'A Plague Upon Your House' in George Town, Penang. Photo: Penang Players Music and Drama Society

A Plague Upon Your House, written and directed by Penangite Jayaram Menon, is a period piece set in a pandemic world similar to our own.

The theatre play will be shown live at Loft 29 in George Town, Penang from March 4-6, and none other than William Shakespeare himself serves as the protagonist.

Presented by the Penang Players Music and Drama Society, A Plague Upon Your House is partly funded by the Cultural Economy Development Agency's (Cendana) Performing Arts Presentation Funding programme. It continues the revival of live theatre productions in the post-pandemic Penang arts scene.

The closure of arts space PenangPac in mid-January this year has been a major blow to the island's performing arts scene, but the theatre community in George Town is moving on, trying to find ways to hold shows in new spaces.

A Plague Upon Your House will be presented at Loft 29, a warehouse concept space. This theatre production is one of Jay’s (as he is fondly called) attempts at rebuilding audience confidence, which he says is slowly returning to the island state’s performing arts scene.

Jayaram Menon, retired engineer, has been active on the Penang stage as actor and director for both The Penang Players and Cape Poetics for the last 21 years. Photo: Penang Players Music and Drama Society

“I hope to signal to performing arts lovers in Penang to attend and kickstart performances of all kinds in George Town. Hence, the immediate need to perform this play,” says Jay, with optimism.

A Plague Upon Your House (taken from Mercutio’s line in Romeo & Juliet) features a mix of young and veteran Penang-based stage actors.

They include Ivan Gabriel (who plays the Bard), Prabah Ramdass, Joe Napoli, Sharmila Kana, Chris Miley, Philip Yeoh, Jen Leon, Diana Saw, Julie Napoli, Tatiana Breger, Sheryl Lee, Monica Mohan, Jay Menon, Garu Ramon, Ida Suhaini, Afifa Hanafiah, Havela D and Sylvia.

Hustling during a plague

A Plague Upon Your House is set in 17th century Britain, during a time when London was quarantined due to the bubonic plague. Here a motley group of performing artists are battling for survival in 1603.

William Shakespeare is doing everything possible to keep his Kings-Players group afloat. He becomes infected by the plague and barely survives... until a gipsy medicine woman applies her traditional cure on him. Both are visited by the High Spirits Khaliban and Ariela (who eventually end up in The Tempest), who discover in them the answer to the plague's origins.

“When I found that Shakespeare had to suffer theatre lockdowns for extended periods, I was hooked. Here was a known character, a performer, a small business man, a writer, a go-getter... and the Shakespeare that you will see on stage is nothing like the genius stereotype.

“He is simply a man doing his best for himself, his friends and his art,” says Jay, a retired engineer, whose directing credits include Death Of A Warrior, Men Without Shadows, Plaza Suite and Underneath The Lintel. He wrote and directed Memes: A Love Story in 2019.

A Plague Upon Your House also explores themes such as mental health, healing, the human spirit and recovery in difficult times.

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“The 2020 lockdown brought live performance to a complete halt worldwide. Many livelihoods were decimated and very few voices from their ranks ever made it into the ongoing narratives.

“When searching for singers, musicians and dancers in late 2018 for my play Memes: A Love Story, I combed nearly every bar and club in Penang to get acquainted with possible candidates.

“These talented folk enjoyed their nightly stints entertaining and could earn a living doing their rounds here and there. All these activities crashed in 2020. It was heart-breaking to watch them move into other areas to earn a buck. I simply had to write about the wherefore and the why of the pandemic,” says Jay.

Additionally, Jay believes that in order for the performing arts in Penang to truly make an impact year after year, it is critical to have original works and a central performance venue.

“With the recent collapse of PenangPac as a major supporter for all kinds of performing arts, we do not have a well-located central site to host the performing arts exclusively. It will take some time to reorganise a central location similar to PenangPac.

“In the meantime, I hope to contribute more to the discussion once a feeling of normalcy is felt by more people,” concludes Jay.

More details here.