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 Not long ago he was known as 'the Voice of India'. But if he carries on
in the present vein Partap Sharma might deserve a new nomenclature,
'the Voice of Shakespeare'. For after a solo recording playing all the
characters of Julius Ceasar he has just completed 'Merchant of Venice'
and is preparing for 'Macbeth'.
In conversation with Meher Pestonji he
talks about his latest project, which, for a patient of emphysema, is
also a health achievement. (19.7.2007)
 Meher Pestonji: This is the second play after 'Julius Ceasar' in your single voice recordings. Why 'Merchant of Venice'?
Partap Sharma: I've been getting requests from schools for sets of ten and twenty Julius Ceasar CDs. Recently a bookseller called my secretary asking me to do Merchant of Venice because it's on the school syllabus. Teachers had made the same request so I did it.
MP: How does playing all the characters affect the play?
PS: Merchant of Venice is often seen as an anti-Semitic play. As I became the different characters I realised Shakespeare isn't anti-Jewish but is poking fun of ethnicity itself. Portia dismisses her suitors mocking their ethnic background. Even the Englishman is not spared. There are digs at Christians converting people into pork eaters. Shakespeare could get away with it because Merchant is a comedy.
MP: School kids rarely laugh over Shakespeare. He's seen as a Very Serious Writer to be studied with reference to context.
PS: A simple explanation is all that's needed when you come up against a rock. The boat having touched the rock must not get stuck. Let it sail on and understanding will come in hindsight.
Like any playwright Shakespeare had to hold his audience. Plays have to come off the page. Its no fun reading them. Merchant was performed as a comedy in Shakespeare's time. I've allowed laughter to be heard to say take it easy, this is a joke.
MP: Merchant of Venice is a huge challenge for a single voice. You a male, have to do Portia, a female, then she impersonates a male.
PS: Not only Portia but her maid Nerissa, and Shylock's daughter Jessica, also become males then go back to being women.
I recorded the women scenes twice but wasn't satisfied. I tried raising my pitch, changing the octave, adding nuance. It didn't work. Then the thought came don't speak like a woman, become one. That was the key. My speech became softer, more tender, I even visualised having breasts. Half-way through the re-recording my recordist gave a thumbs up sign. I didn't do the final version till I felt I had the reins in my hand.
MP: What is the 'voice culture' you teach in workshops? How does it comes out in recordings like this?
PS: I worked out my method which takes ideas from other disciplines - yoga, martial arts, theatre. It approaches voice from two angles - the production of sound and the articulation of sound.
A medical doctor would say sound comes from the larynx. He'd also say it's impossible to drop a man with one finger. Yet it's done in karate. A lot that science says is not possible is done. Sound can be produced from the throat, the chest, from near the solar plexus, from the abdomen or from the lower abdomen. The best sound is produced from the lower abdomen.
Then comes articulation. A newborn child's first sound is aaaaa. Then the lips close so aaa becomes maa. The instruments of articulation are the lips, teeth, tongue and soft palate. Exercises make these versatile so you improve the way you pronounce things, improve your tone of voice, its resonance, its projection.
Voice culture changes the parameters of articulation. Teeth are set in the upper and lower jaws. If you take your lower jaw forward and speak the voice changes. That change in articulation changes the character. Every time you change character you remind yourself that this character comes from here, has a nasal problem, speaks like that. To rehearse I'd go into a quiet room so no one intrudes but people thought I had visitors!
MP: You did! You were with Antonio, Bassanio, Portia, Shylock!
PS: That's right! Each performance is exhausting in my present condition. It helps if people buy the stuff. Otherwise I'm just pampering myself.
Meher Pestonji
Sakina Mansion
18, Oliver Road
Apollo Reclamation
Bombay 400039
Look also at:
http://www.partapsharma.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partap_Sharma
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