The Three Hijras In Verma's Macbeth

Verma’s Macbeth opens with a drummer sitting to the right-end of the stage, with a flower-garlanded photo frame in the spotlight. Percussionist Rax Timyr alongside sound designer and Paul Bull provide music of thunder and battle during a kickboxing fight . A wooden chair and a table, perhaps signifying a throne, placed in the middle of the stage and where the fight is choreographed. The fight, a kind of kickboxing, begins in the middle of the stage. As the fight pauses, one of the three hijras brings a night lamp with a long stand and enters the stage with their opening lines: ‘When shall we three meet again?’ (Act 1.1, 1-10) as witches do in Shakespeare’s play . The hijras, third gender, appear in sari, beard, and jewellery. The fight continues and hijras converse about the heir of

They leave the stage with singing, ‘Fair is Foul and Foul is fair’ (Act 1.1, 11). Their exit movement while dancing, a circular movement at their position with their palms facing upwards and singing signify the ways in which hijras perform in South Asian countries. Meanwhile, Macbeth wins and Banquo and Macbeth leave the stage. With a minor change (Ross’s lines 1.2, 59-62 dropped), Duncan, Malcom and Captain discuss Macbeth’s victory.

Moving on the next scene, Verma projects additional flashlights when Macbeth and Banquo attempt to pass through the stage, which prevents their efforts, leaving them in frozen at the back of the middle stage. This scene is important, as it is Macbeth’s first encounter with Hijras. Appeared from the upper-left wing and dressed in full shining and bright costume with elaborate makeup and jewellery, Hijras, sat in the upper-left area of the stage, continue with the