Shanga
By Abhi
A Story Inspired and Adapted from Shakespeare’s
The Tempest
Contents
Front Matter Textual Introduction
Synopsis
Characters in the Play
ACT 1 Scene 1
Scene 2
ACT 2 Scene 1
Scene 2
ACT 3 Scene 1
Scene 2
Scene 3
ACT 4 Scene 1
ACT 5 Scene 1
Epilogue
Textual Introduction
By Abhi
It is almost impossible to imagine a world without
Shakespeare. Since their composition four hundred years
ago, Shakespeare’s plays and poems have enamored the
world with their grandeur and beauty, inviting those who
want to adapt and transcend their works beyond the English-
speaking stage. The following drama is inspired and adapted
from one of the many beautiful works of Shakespeare. The
adaptation hopes to contextualize the play in Northeast India
with minor modifications and updates. The base text chosen
for this adaptation is Folger’s version of the play, available
online, which is then modified to craft a novel plotline that
retains the essence of the original while changing the main
storyline. Since the story is original and based on the play,
the words, lines, speech prefixes, and other aspects have not
been adapted. The dialogues are vernacular in context and
have not been borrowed as is from the original play. While
Shakespeare’s words craft a rich and engaging world, the
team believes that using a more contextualized, vernacular
vocabulary would result in even more engaging storytelling in
today’s world.
The play is titled Shanga, which in Swahili means
‘ornaments made out of beads.’. These ornaments are not
merely worn as an adornment. Their worth in the cultural
tapestry of Africa transcends mere fashion and fad. Like
Shakespeare’s words, Shanga manifests meaning only when
the beads are joined together. Once connected, these beads
can transform into a necklace, an anklet, or other ornamental
items that enhance the beauty of those wearing them.
Similarly, the story only begins to conclude once the
elemental aspects are connected. The play is, therefore,
titled Shanga, an essence of connection: of Northeast India to
Shakespeare, of an audience to a performer, of a performer
to a stage, of a stage to a narrative, of a narrative to
humankind, and humankind to other-than-human kinds. A
connection that transcends language, caste, creed, religion,
ethnicity, and beings. We hope to foster continued
acknowledgment and appreciation of multi-species
interaction through this story.
The writer and the team would like to extend the
sincerest gratitude to the Department of Cultural and
Creative Studies and the Department of English, NEHU, and
INTACH for providing such an enticing opportunity to bring
Shakespeare to the hills…
Synopsis
A story of greed, betrayal, magic, and love, Shanga
begins with Tobias and his daughter Faith strolling in the
sacred forest when, from a nearby location, the ghosts of
Nestor, elder brother of Tobias, and Sirius, cousin of Tobias,
with their supernatural abilities, lead Tobias and Faith to
Orion, the orphaned son of Sirius, living in the forest.
Conspiring with Sirius to get hold of all the inheritance,
Nestor sent Tobias to the sacred forest twelve years ago on
the pretext of bringing an herb only found there to save their
dying mother. When Tobias tried to take the herb out of the
sacred forest, Aurelia, the forest spirit, and Ambrose, son of
the forest deity, angered at his audacity, brought a storm
that stopped him from leaving the forest. It was then decided
that his memory shall be wiped off before he left the forest.
With no memory of his past, Tobias marries a woman from
the neighboring village and settles down with her.
Nestor and Sirius visit the sacred forest twelve years
later with their wives and Orion, Sirius’s son. While sharing
stories, Nestor tells how he duped Tobias to the forest twelve
years ago, from where he never returned, helping Nestor get
hold of all the inheritance. Upon learning the truth, infuriated
at such malice, Aurelia and Ambrose bring a storm that kills
everyone except Orion and cast a prophecy that the souls of
Nestor and Sirius will never find peace until Tobias forgives
them.
Now, the ghosts’ antics finally lead Tobias and Faith to
Orion. Faith falls in love with Orion at first sight. They bring
Orion home. The ghosts follow them, too. The house is in
shambles as the uncanny events from the forest follow
Tobias. Tobias calls Sahir, an old exorcist, to rid the home of
the ghosts. However, Sahir is chased out by Nestor and
Sirius. Tobias then meets another medium, Elise, who
suggests he conduct a seance to communicate with the
spirits. As Tobias connects with the ghosts, Nestor tells him
what happened twelve years ago. Feeling pity for what
happened to them, Tobias forgives Nestor and Sirius.
While the ghosts of Nestor and Sirius find peace, Tobias,
on the other hand, starts getting haunted by a new group of
ghosts. He seeks Elise again, who tells him that his
benevolence has reached the ears of the magical creatures in
the sacred forest, and they have granted him the power to be
a medium between humans and spirits.
Characters in the Play
Tobias, a former valedictorian student at North-Eastern Hill
University, now
a widowed father living in a village close to the sacred
forest
Faith, daughter of Tobias
Nestor, elder brother of Tobias, now a revenant
Sirius, cousin of Tobias and Nestor, now a revenant
Aurelia, the forest spirit who looks after the maintenance of
the sacred forest
Ambrose, the warden of the sacred forest, is also the son of the
forest deity
Orion, son of Sirius
Tara, wife of Nestor
Aries, wife of Sirius
Sahir, an old exorcist from the hills
Elise, a modern-age medium/clairvoyant
Ajay, Ravi, Pari, Manoj, and Rashi are ghosts of a family who killed
themselves while performing a bizarre ritual
Act 1
Scene 1
A story of greed, betrayal, magic, and love, Shanga
begins with Tobias and his daughter Faith strolling in the
sacred forest when, from a nearby location, the ghosts of
Nestor, elder brother of Tobias, and Sirius, cousin of Tobias,
with their supernatural abilities, lead Tobias and Faith to
Orion, the orphaned son of Sirius, living in the forest.
Act 1 Scene 1
Tobias and Faith walking in the forest.
They stroll around gather forest wood have a
conversation.
Tobias mentions about a unknown connection to the
forest. Faith says that, he keeps saying that everytime they
come to the forest.
Nestor and Serious appears, they have a comical
exchange between them then they hear Tobias and Faith.
They realise it was there brother. They start making
things happen around Tobias and Faith. Tobias and Faith
starts walking fast away from the situation.
They see a bonfire at a distance.
Act 1 Scene 2
Inside the house Tobias and Nestor sitting next to their
dying mother.
Doctor enters, then doctor mentions about a herb from
Mawphlang.
Tobias and Nestor gets into an argumen.
Nestor sends Tobias to the jungle
Then Lawyer enters with Serious
Nestor makes the mother sign all the inheritance to him
Blackout
Tobias is entering the forest
Act 1 ends
Act 2 Scene 1
Ambrose and Aurelia appears in the forest
They are talking about random shit
They hear a sound of a twig breaking
They find Tobias looking for something
They observe Tobias from a distance
Tobias is talking to himself out loud about a person he
met before warning him about the forest and he plans to get
the herb and get out quickly.
Aurelia tries to scare Tobias but Tobias is not scared and
keeps going.
Ambrose gets angry and creates a storm.
Scene ends
Scene 2
Tobias is lying on the floor
He wakes up
Ambrose and Aurelia stands over him discusses to
whether to kill him or let him go.
It is decided that they will let him go but wipes his
memory
Tobias walks out of the forest
Blackout act 2 ends
Act 3 Scene 1
Narration : Describing Tobias’ life
12 years later, now
Nestor, Sirius, Orion and Family arrives in the forest.
They are having picnic.
They start admiring forest.
Nestor shared what he did with Tobias
While Ambrose and Aurelia listens then from distance.
Act 3 Scene 2
Nestor and Family continues to picnic in the background
Ambrose and Aurelia having intense discussion in the
foreground
The discussion escalates as Nestor starts mocking
Tobias and angered Ambrose brings storm that kills everyone
except Orion who is saved by Aurelia.
Act 3 Scene 3
Nestor and Sirius wake up in the forest but they feel
different.
They have a conversation among themselves as to what
happened to them because they don’t remember.
They see Orion and try calling him but he cannot see
them or hear them.
Ambrose appears in front of Nestor and Serious.
He makes a prophecy that Nestor and Serious will be
stuck in the forest until Tobias forgives them
Act 4 Scene 1
Inside Tobias and Faith’s house. Tobias and Faith are
relieved to come back home from forest safe
Faith reminds him of the bonfire they saw.
She tells that they should go back and check if there
someone needs help.
Blackout
Tobias goes back to the forest.
He finds Orion, brings him back home.
Weird things start happening inside the house as Nestor
and Serious follow them
Act 5 Scene 1
An ongoing exorcism.
Sahir is trying to call upon the ghost to leave the house
Sahir is tormented by Nestor and Serious
Sahir runs out of the house
Blackout
Tobias is talking to Elise.
Elise suggests him to do the séance and then Nestor
appears and gives a Monologue.
Tobias forgives him.
Nestor and Serious disappears
Before disappearing Serious talks to Orion
Tobias and Faith and Orion sit for dinner when weird
things start happening again
Scared Tobias calls up Elise and walks up to the front of the
stage talking to her.
She says that he is blessed with powers of a medium
Before he could respond, a utensil hits his head and he
passes out
The play ends
