This play tells stories of women who meet each other at strange moments

Director Yashhraj Siingh (left) interacts with actors during rehearsals

Who are the most interesting types of individuals? If there's anything that works by literary greats such as Munshi Premchand or Ruskin Bond have taught this writer, it is that the most interesting people are often strangers; those who you will encounter in the most unexpected of situations and who come equipped with delightful tales. Mahathi Ramesh attempts the same approach with her upcoming play, Stranger Danger.

Cast members at the play's rehearsal. Pics/Anurag Ahire

An anthology of four independent one-act plays, this show tells stories of women who meet each other at the strangest moments in time. "As the play's name indicates there is an inherent wariness towards the unknown in each character. The situations in which these women meet range from commonplace [an influencer's bedroom or the reception of a career counselling centre] to obscure [a crematorium or the riyaaz room of a singer]," shared Ramesh, who is also an actor and a singer. She adds that a core theme stitching the stories together is that nobody is what they seem, and that there are hidden depths to what the strangers think they know.

Produced by The Jeff

Goldberg Studio, the play's director, Yashhraj Siingh, calls it a satirical dark comedy. "All the four stories have some level of simplicity and ease that makes the play engaging, without you even realising it - you suddenly find yourself immersed in their reality," says Siingh, who is also a faculty member at the studio. He adds that the great bit about theatre as a medium, is that there's a whole lot of room to improvise and for the characters to grow. It's a collaborative process.

Mahathi Ramesh

Ramesh has been toying with the concept of the play since the COVID-19 lockdowns. "I had the idea of writing a short story of two women meeting outside a crematorium. It turned into a one-act play, which turned into four one-act plays. I kept putting pen to paper until something interesting crystallised," explained the début scriptwriter.

But was writing all-female characters a conscious attempt? The scriptwriter shares that she wanted to tell honest stories with layered and dimensional characters as it was her first-time writing dialogues. She found it easier to do so with female characters. While she had attempted to write a story with two male characters, it didn't sound authentic or well-rounded. "So instead of doing a disservice to the male experience, I stuck to eight female characters and did my best," said the debutant, who is excited for the show's opening this Saturday.

She has consciously written characters that are a potent mix of attributes that make people chaste as well as wicked. She adds, "I love such characters because they challenge us to find empathy in places we wouldn't have thought to search before."

Siingh says that for the multi-layered characters, the casting process was rather organic. "We held a studio-wide casting of all female actors [past, present and alumni] from The Jeff Goldberg Studio, but didn't have anything specific in mind. That's the beauty of theatre [it's not as visual as films], it allows actors to blow you away with their craft," he says. He hopes after all the hard work and team effort, the audience, for the duration of the play, forgets about themselves and is lost in the four stories, "Only then, the art has won," he maintains.

On: November 25 and 26; December 2 and 3; 7.30 pm
At: The Jeff Goldberg Studio, 3rd floor, Links Building, Linking Road, Khar West
Log on to: in.bookmyshow.com
Cost: Rs 399