The Meowchant of Venice: A Geronimo Stilton Adventure was the closing play of the English theatre festival of St. Xavier's College, Mumbai written and directed by me and my friend, Anant Bhardwaj and assisted by Shreyan Sengupta. It was staged on 10th February 2024. An adaptation of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, The Meowchant of Venice is a story set in a dystopian society in New Mouse City where people are divided into Mice and Rats based on their worth, their social status, and most importantly, their birth. This is a euphemism for conflicts between identities as seen everywhere in the real world. The play revolves around the characters from the popular children's book series, Geronimo Stilton, as they navigate the harsh realities of discrimination and prejudice. The choice to use the highly fictionalized characters from the children’s book series, Geronimo Stilton while using the general plot of The Merchant of Venice has been made to bring out the jarring contrast between the childishness and, at times, ridiculousness of the treatment of the book series and the very real and mature themes that The Merchant of Venice tackles through its storytelling to show the kind of impersonality and casualness that is seen when such topics as racism are tackled in the real world as well.
Attached above is the official poster for the play. Being an ensemble play, almost all of our actors are pictured in the poster, namely, Jay Kulkarni, Hridaya Rajpurohit, Kimberely Jesson, Savio Shibu, Yoginee Chavan, Alexa Dsouza, Khushi Tambi and Himadhya Joshi. The photo for the poster was shot by Arth Nandu and the poster was designed by Sweedal, Kruttika, Anant and I.
The trailer, attached above, was directed by myself and my co-director, Anant. The cinematography was done by Arth Nandu was edited by Anant and I. Most of the ensemble, i.e. Jay Kulkarni, Alexa Dsouza, Kimberley Jesson, Hridaya Rajpurohit, Yoginee Chavan and Savio Shibu, Divye Lal and Arnav Joshi can be seen in picture.
The video attached above is the teaser that was created for the PR of the play. It is a short glimpse of the three love stories shown in the play, exploring an aspect of the story other than the one shown in the trailer. The teaser was directed, shot, and edited by me. Hridaya Rajpurohit, Kimberley Jesson, Yoginee Chavan, Savio Shibu, Anant Bhardwaj and Jaaee Khandekar are pictured in the teaser.
The photos attached below are shots of the staged play. They were clicked by Ayushie, Gauri, Diya, Joe, Joshua, Keyuri, Rutuja, Shlok and Thivya. The technical setup, the lights and sound mixing, and programming was handled by Nishank and his team under the leadership of Tanishq Parab. The set design was done by Shreyan Sengupta and I, and setup was done by Nathan and his team. The props and decor of the play was handled by Aparna Acharya and Sanika Mankar. The costumes were sourced by Jynelle Fernandes, Aman S. and their team. The rat and mouse tails were hand stitched by Jynelle. The makeup was done by Jynelle Fernandes, Aman S. and their team, who included Vendi, Lisa, Nilaya and Shaeyan among others. The music for the play was composed and performed by Renee Philip and her team, which included Malvika and Abraham on the keyboards, Kunal playing the violin, Kaniel playing the bass guitar, Abhilekh playing the guitar, Thoman on percussion and Evania on composing.
The play was received very well by a house-full audience and got appreciation from the English department faculty. This play allowed me to hone the abilities I had aquired throughout my theatre journey in Xaviers. From production, set and costume design to technicals and the actual craft of writing and direction, I was able to exercise and master a plethora of my theatre skills. We were blessed with the best and most seasoned actors in Xavier's who gave the perfect performance on stage.
