Actress Ruks Khandagale And Shakespeare Part 21 !!exclusive!! May 2026

“I am not trying to ‘do’ Shakespeare,” Khandagale said in a recent post-show interview. “I am trying to argue with him. Part 21 is my final letter to a dead white man. It is an apology, a lawsuit, and a love letter, all at once.” The performance is divided into three distinct movements: Movement 1: The Prophecy of the Forgotten Women Khandagale opens with a text that does not exist in the original folios. She has written a fictional soliloquy for Lady Macduff’s daughter , the child murdered off-stage in Macbeth . Speaking directly to the audience, Khandagale transforms the child into a prophet. “You call my death a ‘scene,’” she whispers, tears streaming down her face but her voice steady as a blade. “But I am the prophecy you ignored. Every child killed in the wings of power becomes the ghost at your banquet.”

To which Khandagale replied via Instagram: “He is mine now. I paid for the ticket with my soul.” What happens after Part 21 ? Ruks Khandagale has announced that she will take a two-year hiatus from Shakespeare to focus on directing a film adaptation of Part 15 (her acclaimed version of King Lear told from the perspective of the Fool’s forgotten sister). But she promises that the conversation is not over. actress ruks khandagale and shakespeare part 21

Part 21 , which premiered last week at the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai before a sold-out crowd, is the grand finale of this cycle. It is a 90-minute one-woman show that weaves together the ghosts of Lady Macbeth, the fury of Queen Margaret, the madness of Ophelia, and the wisdom of Prospero. Ruks Khandagale (38), who rose to fame with her National Award-nominated performance in the indie film Fado: The Echo of Dying Walls , has always been a "theatre animal." Critics often describe her as "the weaponized introvert"—someone who uses silence as a sword. “I am not trying to ‘do’ Shakespeare,” Khandagale

In the vast constellation of classical theatre, few names from the contemporary Marathi and Indian independent film scene have dared to wrestle with the Bard of Avon as persistently and poetically as Ruks Khandagale . Known for her piercing eyes, chameleonic vocal range, and an almost dangerous vulnerability on stage, Khandagale has been engaged in a decade-long artistic dialogue with William Shakespeare. Now, with the launch of what the critics are calling Part 21 of her ongoing series—titled "The Unspoken Sonnet" —the actress has not only reinterpreted the canon but has shattered the very framework of how we perceive gender, power, and prophecy in Shakespeare’s late romances. Part 21: What Does It Mean? For the uninitiated, the phrase "Shakespeare Part 21" does not refer to a sequel written by the Bard (who stopped at The Tempest ). Rather, it is Ruks Khandagale’s ambitious, long-form performance art project. Beginning in 2018, Khandagale set out to perform 21 distinct soliloquies, characters, or "missing scenes" from Shakespeare’s plays. Each "Part" is a standalone theatrical event, but together they form a mosaic of the human condition. It is an apology, a lawsuit, and a love letter, all at once

When she breaks her staff (a simple bamboo stick), she does not renounce magic. She renounces silence. The stage goes dark, and a single line appears on the mirror: "Part 21: The beginning." The timing of Part 21 is no accident. As the global theatre community grapples with questions of decolonization, gender parity, and the ethics of performing classical texts with problematic origins, Khandagale offers a third path. She does not cancel Shakespeare; she cross-examines him.