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pantheononitsownterms,virtuallyonaparwiththeMahabaratta,notthose
ofaremoteimperialcentre.17Thewholenewcriticalterrainof‘localized,
Shakespeare,aphenomenonwhichisintrinsicallypluralistic,uncommodi-
fiable,bothindependentandscepticalofforeignmodels,reflectsthisme-
tamorphicaspectofShakespeare,sworks.18Believeitornot,therehave
beenattemptseventoAustralianizeShakespeare,andthesearede-scribed
inthenewbookeditedbyJohnGolderandRichardMadelaine,OBrave
NewWorld:TwoCenturiesofShakespeareontheAustralianStage.19And
ifyouwanttoseethelocalisedUSAversionofShakespeare,justlook
atHollywood.Partoftheevidencefortheapparentinexhaustibilityof
Shakespeareanappropriations,liesintheflowoffilmsbasedinsomeway
onhisplays,thatthreatenstoswellratherthanabate.Over600have
beenmadesince1895,astaggering100sinceBranagh,sHenryVin1989,
andmanyofthemhavebeenhugeboxofficesuccesses,bringingwhole
newglobalaudiencesofteenagerstoShakespeare.Finally,inthelasttwo
decadesShakespearehasmetamorphosedfromatextualised,antiquarian
andquaintreminderofpasttimes,baneofschoolchildren,tothehottest
filmscriptwriterofall,andaubiquitouspresenceontheinternet.Isthere
anysecrettothisphoenix-likecapacityto‘turnandturnagain,?
Adaptationisaformofchange,ametamorphosisofanobjectfromone
stateintoanother,likewoodintocoal,coalintofire,andShakespeareinplay
afterplayfocusesontheprocessofchangeitself.Thismightgiveaclueto
thereadinesswithwhichhisplayscanbeadaptedtoissuesthataretopical.
Geneticengineering,DNAanalysis,twiddlingthegenomes,allraiseprecisely
theethicalandemotionalquestionsexploredbyShakespeare.Towhatextent
arewelockedintoabiologicaldestinythatpreventsanyrealchoiceor
change?Cloning,forexample,opensupnewissuesandpossibilitiesinThe
ComedyofErrorsandTwelfthNight,asdecisionsmadebyanarcissistic
parentcreateendlesscomplexitiesinthelivesoftheirclonedchildren.The
questionofbiologicaldestinyhasfinancialimplications,apartfromallother
considerations,asinsurancecompaniesandmortgagebrokerslooksuspiciously
17ThebookentitledShakespeareinIndia,ed.S.NagarajanandS.Viswanathan(Delhi
1987)ismisleadinglytitledthoughitdoeshaveinterestingmaterial.Moresymptomaticarethe
articlesoverseveralyearsinjournalssuchasHamletStudiesandTheAligarhMiscellany.There
issurelyawonderfulbooktobewrittenonShakespeareinIndia,butsofarasIamawareit
hasnotyetbeenwritten.AniaLoomba,sGender,Race,RenaissanceDrama(Manchester
1989)makesaspirited,polemicalstart.Somebooksexploreliteraryaspectsofthesubject,such
asH.W.WellsandH.H.AnniahGowda,ShakespeareturnedEast:astudyincomparison
ofShakespeare’slastplayswithsomeclassicalplaysofIndia,Mysore1976,whileC.J.
Sisson,sShakespeareinIndia:popularadaptationsontheBombaystage,London1926is
old,verylimited,andonly26pageslong.
18SeeL.Marcus,PuzzlingShakespeare:LocalReadingandItsDiscontents,Berkeley1988.
19Seeabove.