Desdemona Roopakam, is a concert theatre piece that examines feminist narratives within Shakespeare’s Othello and traditional Indian mythologies .

Directed by Abhishek Majumdar and performed by acclaimed musicians MD Pallavi and Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy, the play is composed of Hindustani , Carnatic and folk music . The sound design of the play is by one of India’s foremost live sound artists , Nikhil Nagaraj.

The performance text is a combination of musical score, spoken word poetry and dramatic scene. It has been co written by MD Pallavi, Bindhu Malini , Veena Appiah, Abhishek Majumdar, Irawati Karnik and Nikhil Nagaraj. It also comprises of the original text of Shakespeare’s Othello and the poetry by Tishani Doshi. The performance uses multiple forms such as Yakshagana, Hari katha , Yellama Nataka and contemporary idioms to tell the story .

Desdemona Roopakam questions the absence of female voices that could have provided a deeper insight into the life of Desdemona and thereby challenging the erasure of any resistance from Desdemona as she is killed by Othello.

The play in its elaboration of traditional Indian myth examines the differences of register and agency that women have had in important narratives about them.

The play is in English, Tamil and Kannada with english surtitles.

Desdemona Roopakam is produced by the Nalanda Arts Studio , an independent arts studio working across forms of art practice and research.

It is Supported by Ranga Shankara's 'Play the Play' programme