The Hindu
By SWATI DAFTUAR
NEW DELHI, January 30, 2014

The Company Theatre’s “Piya Behrupiya” recreates the magic of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”

A brightly painted, larger than life portrait of Shakespeare hangs on the stage as a backdrop, and the playwright looks on, quite at home in his Indian avatar, his golden crown sitting easy on his head. If you were in a mood to be fanciful, you could even say that he looks like he approves of what’s going on before him. The Company Theatre’s translation and adaptation of Twelfth Night is the kind of tribute to Shakespeare that stands apart from the many others, at once immensely faithful and wonderfully original, like the portrait on the stage. Piya Behrupiya, directed by Atul Kumar, is that rare amalgamation of the literary and humorous in Shakespeare, and as Indian as they come. The Company recently brought the play once again to a Delhi audience that, judging from the packed auditorium and standing ovation, just can’t get enough.

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