Irrespective of their age, most students of the English language fear spotting William Shakespeare’s name on their syllabus. Theatre maker Deshik Vansadia was also in the same boat. But he is now overseeing a contemporary adaptation of Julius Caesar for schoolchildren in Aram Nagar. “The idea is to show them Shakespeare as a spoken, living experience,” he adds.

In 2025, he travelled to collaborate with the SouthWest Shakespeare Company to direct Measure for Measure, Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. “As part of the tour, we travelled to Oregon for the Shakespeare Festival. That’s when I learned of Play On, their educational arm,” shares the director. The initiative hosts residencies for writers to adapt, and contemporise the Bard’s verses to the next generation.