Abstract:

            Shakespearean plays have been interpreted and appropriated across cultures through ages. Such popularity may be accounted to the plays’ propensity to be adapted according to the cultural clime of the adaptors without causing much subsequent damage to the original spirit of the plays.  In this context the present paper attempts to make a study of Aboriginal performances of Shakespearean plays in Australia with special references to Noel Tovey’s¹ production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, its point of departure being a study of the use of Aboriginal myths and legends in the production.

            The present paper intends to show how the production takes the liberty to incorporate Aboriginal myths and legends in staging an acclaimed European play in order to achieve its purpose of establishing Aborigines as equivalent to Europeans, creating awareness among global spectators about the richness of Aboriginal culture and to counter the grand narrative of colonial supremacy.