‘Piya Behroopiya’

 

Take Shakespeare and plonk him down in the middle of a small town nautanki group and you will have the bare bones of this fabulous play. ‘Twelfth Night’ is one of the Bard’s most topsy-turvy comedies, and the Hindi adaptation lends itself beautifully to the inherent madness of the characters. Piya Behroopiya was first performed at The Globe theatre in London as part of the World Shakespeare festival where it was received extremely well. Understandable, because the sheer energy and talent of this group of performers brings the script alive like I’ve never seen it before.

 

Themes common to Bollywood and Shakespeare, i.e. unrequited love and mistaken identity, form the core of this play. Add to the mix a pair of identical twins, some cross-dressing and a few shades of homoeroticism, and you have an irresistible cacophony of fun. The play is helped along with a few asides by Amitosh Nagpal who plays Sebastian but is, more importantly, the translator of the script into Hindi, and these little comments give us a glimpse into the improvisation and interpretations the director and cast got up to. Catchy folk music composed and arranged by Gagan Singh, influenced by styles from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan, is performed the actors accompanied by Amod Bhat and Rahul Sharma, with enthusiasm and skill. Typical Hindi rib tickling humour that makes fun of accents, English-speaking wannabes and religious zealots is peppered with urban allusions that had the audience in splits.

 

The vibrant quality of costumes, settings, comic timing and theatrical expertise is what makes this play so much more than a slapstick runaround that many comedies on the Indian stage become. Some very good music with a couple of great singers {the jester played by Neha Saraf in particular}, great acting that never flags {we loved every actor, especially the little 6 year old Noor}, and the wonderful stagecraft that Atul Kumar is famous for {see The Blue Mug for another example of this brilliant director’s work} make this a gem of a play, and an excellent evening’s entertainment. Leave your analytical, intellectual perspective at home and just enjoy the ride!