"The Black She-Snake," and other plays by William Shakespeare

(Photo by Carol Rosegg/Shakespeare Theatre Company)

Ten years ago, as a young magazine intern in Karachi, I pushed for what seemed to be the plummest assignment of the summer: covering the first ever international Shakespeare conference in Pakistan.

To a budding English major, what could possibly be more exciting?

Scholars from around the world, including Shakespeare celebrity Stanley Wells were to present papers interpreting the Bard all day.

And a popular director, a fixture on the local English theatre scene, planned to showcase classic scenes from Shakespeare with sumptuous Pakistani costumes designed by his wife's exclusive boutique. Imagine Juliet as a bejeweled Indian bride, a chiffon veil sparkling with gold and silver embroidery trailing from her head to the floor.

There was no way I was going to miss this.

My magazine story focused on the conference's examples of Shakespeare's universality. The speaker I remember best presented a wry, informative history of how Shakespeare's works have been adapted and translated around the world, particularly in the Indian subcontinent.

The crowd laughed loudest at the Urdu titles of long-ago productions. Antony and Cleopatra became Kaali Nagan ("The Black She-Snake"), a steamy title worthy of any Urdu pot-boiler. And Love's Labor's Lost translated into the open lament Yaaron Ki Mehnat Barbaad ("The Hard Work of the Lovers is Wasted").

I thought of that Karachi conference while watching director Stephen Fried's dynamite cross-cultural production for The Shakespeare Theater Company's annual Free for All in Rock Creek Park last Saturday.

The play's setting: 1960's India.

The play's clown: a pot-smoking hippie.

The play?

The Hard Work of the Lovers is Wasted.