Bollywood-inspired Twelfth Night hits Vancouver for Diwali Fest

The Bard is going Bollywood.

A theatre group from Mumbai is performing a musical version of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in Hindi(with English subtitles) for Vancouver's Diwali Fest and the Cultch.

Piya Behrupiya includes music and dancing while tackling the play's themes of mistaken identity, unrequited love and riotous disorder.

"It is a translation. If you see the play, it follows the narrative, although we have taken a few liberties here and there," director Atul Kumar told On The Coast host Stephen Quinn.

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"It actually lent itself to Indian song and dance routines: the unrequited love, the [love] triangles, people falling in love with the wrong person, cross-dressing, Bollywood is full of that."

Director not always a Shakespeare fan

Piya Behrupiya was commissioned by the Globe Theatre in London in 2012, where it had its premiere, as part of a celebration of Shakespeare from around the world.

Since then, it has been performed widely inin India and had its Canadian premiere on Tuesday at the York Theatre.

Kumar says he wasn't always a fan of Shakespeare: he went to school at an English convent school, where Shakespeare was taught in a way that left little room for creativity and fun.

He says it wasn't until he saw Shakespeare in other languages that he gained an appreciation for it.

"Out of context, and when made your own, and personalized, Shakespeare suddenly breathes and made so much more sense," he said.

Piya Behrupiya runs until Oct. 22 at the York Theatre in Vancouver.

With files from CBC Radio's On The Coast

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