GEORGE TOWN – Forget the romanticism often interpreted through Shakespeare's notable works, Universiti Sains Malaysia’s (USM) Drama and Theatre Department, School of The Arts, has now undressed gender stereotypes in his writing in their latest play, UNSEX ME.
The show was created after receiving an invitation to perform at the 14th Unesco APB (Asia-Pacific Bond) Theatre School and Director's Conference Online Festival in Shanghai, China, under the theme of Shakespeare and Multimedia.
Showcasing four women representing Desdemona of Othello, Ophelia of Hamlet, Miranda of The Tempest, and Lady Macbeth of Macbeth, they questioned Shakespeare’s stereotypical representation of women, their relationships with the men in their lives, societal expectations and virginity.
Performers Muhanniz Mesri, Daphne Fang May Chi, Monica Eddie Subramaniam and Chan Jia Yi, gave these women characters a voice through movement and monologue, accompanied by harsh lighting that moved in tandem with them, questioning their existence in Shakespeare’s texts.
The director, who is also the USM Drama and Theatre lecturer, Hilyati Ramli, told The Vibes that they wanted to highlight the “void” in Shakespeare’s writing instead of just performing the text, which has been done many times over worldwide.
“By using a physical representation of arguments and resistance in order to question the purpose and existence of four distinct women characters from a selection of Shakespeare's notable works, we intended it to be a provocative play to unsettle conventional acceptance of William Shakespeare’s portrayal of women in his works.
“We do not specifically think that his works inspire toxic masculinity, but in a huge way, it is just too stereotypical to represent gender during that era.
“Shakespeare might have wanted to reflect the gender roles back in that era, but we do understand the need of getting the interest and to dramatise his intention for larger audiences, but there are some other ways to look at the same issue,” she said.
Shakespeare fans may be appalled by their portrayal, but they hope that they would not feel too offended but realise that there is another way of looking at a text.
As performing artists, she clarifies that the team does appreciate and regard Shakespeare, his works and his contribution to the performing arts scene highly, and have no disrespect towards him. However, they understand if there is some discontent towards how they are portraying his works, especially how they are questioning the equality in gender roles.
UNSEX ME was first presented during the 14th Unesco APB (Asia-Pacific Bond) Theatre School and Director's Conference Online Festival in Shanghai, China, held from October 22 to 29, 2021. It then premiered in Malaysia for the public at Cloud Theatre from December 28 to 30, 2021. – The Vibes, January 1, 2022
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