The successful Hindi drama 'Piya Behrupiya' is an Indian take on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
It has already done 200 shows, has traveled in various countries and has also been translated in 5 languages.
As Mr. Atul says, Twelfth Night is kind of Bollywood blockbuster and has every emotion.
It was an invite from Globe theater London, which encouraged him to adapt Shakespeare's play.
He then took it to Globe and had an unforgettable experience.
Source: Confluence - A festival of India in Australia
"I had seen Shakespeare's plays there and never dreamed that one day, I would be presenting something there….", he said.
He further added, … "it was such a great experience. Audience enjoyed every bit of it. It was a wet and cold day but they stayed there laughing and clapping. It was awesome. There was not any language barrier. We were concerned before, about language so had English subtitles too but everyone is so familiar with the story. More so there are visual elements, so you know whats happening."
Source: Confluence - A festival of India in Australia
When asked if adaptation was difficult, he said, "It just happened. Everybody was actively involved into. Every body in our team is so multifacet that they just contributed. They experimented, improvised and before we realised, the play was ready."
He adds, "I never expected and totally surprised with its success."
He does not take the credit of this success rather takes a back seat giving full credit to his team- his artists in various capacity.
The play has regional flavour along with music and songs.
Source: Confluence - A festival of India in Australia
While talking with Atul Kumar, one learns a lot about the simple values of life from him. As heard and read about him, he is a poised and a happy person.
In a very cool way he talks about what drew him towards theater.
"I was not good in studies. Once in school, I just tried few lines at the stage. People clapped. I thought, perhaps this is what I can do. I think each child gets its identity in the school only. So did I. I just fell into love with theater. Later I joined theater group/s and as they say rest is history." He said.
He said that he is excited about coming to Australia. This is going to be his first ever visit to Down under.
"I am more interested knowing people. More than theater I am interested meeting people. I am so looking forward coming to Australia…"
Play performance dates are...
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