Nagpur: A moneylender demanding a man’s tongue as repayment for an unpaid debt may sound like an unlikely premise for a contemporary theatre production, yet that conflict formed the emotional core of Sauda, a Hindi-Marathi adaptation inspired by William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.The 90-minute play staged on Saturday retold Shakespeare’s classic tale of debt, honour, pride and justice through an Indian lens. It replaced the original’s famous “pound of flesh” with a demand for the debtor’s tongue while retaining the moral dilemmas that have kept the story relevant for centuries. Presented in an intimate setting before a small audience by the Backstage Playmakers, the production dispensed with microphones and conventional stage barriers. Actors performed within feet of spectators, allowing every exchange, argument and moment of silence to unfold at close quarters. Leading the cast was Omkar Ghare as Shankar Pandit, also the director of the play, the adaptation’s equivalent of Shakespeare’s Shylock. As the moneylender determined to enforce the terms of a bargain, Ghare brought emotional depth to the character. Shubhankar Mishra, playing Shakespeare’s Antonio, portrayed the sceptical protagonist Anadi. Mishra’s performance anchored the emotional journey of the play, especially during the final acts.Whispers were delivered softly yet remained audible in the compact venue, while moments of anger and confrontation carried an immediacy often lost in the larger auditoriums.
