Stephen Beresford will direct Shakespeare's most popular romantic comedy, "Twelfth Night" at The Albery Theatre in London, opening on 19 August 2004. This new production transposes Illyria to the place which most closely resembles Shakespeare's London today, contemporary India! Honour codes, the rules of marriage, holy men, beliefs and the significance of festival find a fresh relevance in this recognisable and engaging world.

The production will feature Paul Bhattacharjee as 'Malvolio', Raaghav Chanana as 'Sebastian', Neha Dubey as 'Olivia', Kulvinder Ghir as 'Feste' and Raza Jaffrey as 'Orsino'. The fifteen-strong cast also includes Paul Bazely ('Sir Andrew Aguecheek') Shereen Martineau ('Viola') Madhav Sharma ('Sir Toby Belch') and Harvey Virdi ('Maria').

Paul Bhattacharjee is currently starring in "Guantanamo" at the Tricycle Theatre and recently appeared in the RSC Jacobean season at the Gielgud Theatre. His television includes "White Teeth", "Fields of Gold" and "The Jury" and he played Mohammed in the film "Dirty Pretty Things". Kulvinder Ghir starred in the hit BBC TV Sketch show "Goodness Gracious Me". On stage he has played in "Caucasian Chalk Circle" and "The Waiting Room" (National Theatre). Film and television include "Bend It Like Beckham", "Rita, Sue and Bob Too", "Tomorrow La Scala!" and "Arabian Nights". Raza Jaffrey made his West End debut playing 'Sky' in "Mamma Mia!" and subsequently created the leading role of 'Aarkrash' in AR Rahman's musical "Bombay Dreams".

Two of the company were cast in India: Neha Dubey is a well-known Bollywood actor and has featured in numerous films including "The Perfect Husband" and the award-winning "Monsoon Wedding", and 21-year-old Raaghav Chanana was discovered at an open audition in Delhi.

The creative team also includes designer Jonathan Fensom ("Journey's End", "Abigail's Party"), Jason Taylor (Lighting Designer) and Fergus O'Hare (Sound Designer). The production will have original music composed by Sara Dillon. The play is produced by Background, whose current productions include "Journey's End" (Playhouse) and "Hamlet" (Old Vic).

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