Hello Everyone-
For this month’s Contemporary Classics Conversation subject, I was inspired by the situation we have found ourselves in over the past few months, of being quarantined in our homes and very limited in our movement and activities. Our lives have been completely upended, restricted, and so many aspects of living that we all have put in our lives to give it meaning, purpose, joy, are suddenly unavailable. Like many of us, to maintain perspective on my own situation (and to pass the time…the immense amount of time!) I have been doing a lot of reading. Of course, that includes quite a bit of Shakespeare. In Shakespeare’s plays, we find many characters whose circumstances are much more challenging than our own. This exposure gives us insight on deep, fundamental human struggles, and perspective on any circumstances we are in, providing strength when needed and relief when appropriate. So while this column usually focuses on a contemporary playwright and impactful moments in the theatre, this one will focus on a contemporary impact by a very uncontemporary playwright, and how Shakespeare brought strength and perspective to a group of men in far more dire circumstances than a temporary quarantine. Here is the story of The Robben Island Bible.
I’m sure all of you know of the man Nelson Mandela, and are familiar with his story of imprisonment and subsequent rise to prominence in an apartheid-free South Africa. The prison in which he spent 18 of his total 27 years of confinement is the notorious Robben Island. During the 1970’s, there was a fellow political prisoner named Sonny Venkatrathnam, a man of Indian descent. For a portion of their time, the prisoners were allowed to have books to read, until the powers realized they were using these books to educate themselves on law and politics and revolution. The book “privilege” was taken away. After a while, and after much pressure from the prisoners themselves, the policy was amended to allow each prisoner to keep one book, and one book only. Sonny Venkatrathnam decided that if he can only have one book, it needed to be a book that could last a long time. Brilliantly, he chose the Complete Works of William Shakespeare.
Over time, the book was passed around among the prisoners, the plays read and discussed. During his time in prison, Sonny’s family would communicate with him by sending him postcards and greeting cards. These cards had images of Hindu religious figures on them. To preserve these precious communications, Sonny would attach them to the cover of his Shakespeare book. Soon, another uprising by the prisoners caused the book policy to change again, and all books, except for Bibles, were taken from the cells. According to Sonny, on Sundays the prison would bring in a priest to provide a religious service for the prisoners. One Sunday, out of a desire to break the monotony and boredom, he decided to attend. The prisoners were each allowed to bring their Bible with them. Sonny told the guard he needed to get his Bible from the storeroom where the books were kept, and because his book of Shakespeare’s complete works was covered in the postcards of Hindu gods and goddesses, the guard believed it to be a religious book. As Sonny said, “Fortunately he wasn’t such a bright man, or he was too tired to care much, but he didn’t look too closely and he let me take it.” From that point on, Sonny was allowed to keep the book in his cell. Again, it was passed around, read, and discussed, this time in secret.
In late 1977, word came that Sonny was soon going to be released from prison. He passed around the book one more time, now asking his fellow prisoners to mark passages that meant something to them, that had the greatest impact on them, and sign their name next to it. In all, 34 inmates marked and signed the book, the most famous being Nelson Mandela, who wouldn’t be released from prison for another 13 years. His chosen passage? It’s from Julius Caesar:
CAESAR
Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear,
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.
Thinking of Nelson Mandela marking that passage while imprisoned in the vicious Robben Island prison, and only halfway through his ultimately 27-year confinement that he had no idea would ever end, gives new weight and meaning to those words. The power of that idea in those circumstances is gut-wrenching, and provides incredible perspective on our own current situation. Temporary quarantine becomes much, much easier to manage.
The Robben Island Bible, or the Robben Island Shakespeare, as the book has become known, still exists and is in the possession of Sonny’s family (Sonny passed away in March of 2019 at the age of 84). It occasionally is brought on exhibit. I have found no current information regarding its next tour, but I am keeping an eye out.
To share your own Shakespearean passage of inspiration, insight, and/or strength, please comment below and then join Capital Classics for our Shakespeare Book Club at the Noah Webster branch of the West Hartford Library via Zoom on Monday, July 6. The topic is “Shakespeare Strong” and we will all share and discuss our own impactful passages. For information on accessing the meeting via zoom, email: bard@westhartfordlibrary.org or info@capitalclassics.org.
“See” you there and then!
Geoffrey Sheehan
Artistic Associate
Capital Classics Theatre Company