The Handlebards: It’s all about love and laughter in this unique take on Romeo & Juliet

Make way for The Handlebards from London, as they come to the city for their debut performance 
The all-women cast of Romeo & Juliet
The all-women cast of Romeo & Juliet

One of the many things that the performing arts scene in Chennai can proudly acknowledge is the fact that international groups and playwrights have lately been making the city a pitstop for their tours in the country. Take for example, globally renowned performance companies like Transe Express from France (The Celestial Carillon), Graeae from the UK & La FuradelsBaus from Spain (Aruna and the Raging Sun), and American playwright Richard France (Obediently Yours, Orson Welles), all of whom performed in the city in the past one year.  

Now, the city prepares to welcome another group of theatre artistes from England, called The Handlebards, a unique repertory company that adapts works of William Shakespeare and whose artistes travel with their costumes and props on bicycles while heading to their performance venues. The only shame? They don’t cycle for international tours (understandably so!). But we are not complaining, as their upcoming tour of India, in Bengaluru and Chennai, promises to give us an exhilarating (or silly, as they call it) presentation of Romeo and Juliet by a select all-female cast.

Pedal of honour 
The Handlebards was formed in 2012 in England by Paul Moss, Callum Cheatle, Tom Dixon and Callum Brodie. Their first cycling theatre tour was in 2013 when they pedalled for 967 miles from Glasgow to London, performing Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night at various venues across the UK. In 2014, they cycled 2,000 miles across the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium, performing Macbeth and The Comedy of Errors, garnering audiences of over 6,000 people at 50 venues. Their biggest draw came next year, when they attracted an audience of over 10,000 people for A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet. And because all their costumes and props are waterproof and upcycled, they have gained immense accolades and a number of awards for their drive towards sustainability and contribution towards reducing carbon footprints. 

As for the bicycles, the group has partnered with Pashley, the oldest bicycle manufacturer in England, since 1926. For their present tours, they are pedalling Pashley’s dependable Pathfinder series of bicycles, designed to withstand extreme stress and all kinds of weather. “Although we have cycled all the way from London to Edinburgh, for our summer tours, we have not cycled on international tours because it’s very difficult and the roads are very different from that in England. But we are considering plans for international cycling next year, pending the right conditions to do it,” says Mel Crouch, the director of their upcoming adaptation of Romeo & Juliet.

Country connect
“It was a lot of fun doing tragedy into comedy. The aim is to find really strong characters  and create unexpected takes on them, while trying to make everything as silly as possible,” says Mel, adding that much of their script adheres to the original, although they have cut out portions that they found difficult to do. Though The Handlebards first staged this play two years ago, this year they have a completely new cast, with Lucy Green (who plays Juliet) being the oldest member in the group, who has acted in the group’s earlier plays, like As You Like It, last year in Bengaluru.

Lucy and the rest of the cast — Sian Eleanor Green, Eleanor Chaganis and Charlotte Driessler — will be essaying around 20 roles with quick changeovers on stage, including that of the protagonists. A couple of them will also play the ukulele and xylophone, we learn. As they prepare for their debut show in Chennai, Mel shares, “For our shows abroad, we always try to bring in local references. Last year, we had Mysore pak on stage in Bengaluru!”  

At Rani Seethai Hall, Nungambakkam. On October 2, 7 pm. Tickets available online. 

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