Manav Kaul explores modern-day relationship with his new play

Interestingly, Kaul who has written and directed this play didn’t have a script in hand when his team went to rehearsals. “I had some images in my head and it is through rehearsals that we built this play,” he told

The Indian Express, adding that it is a very modern and poetic play, one that he can’t really label. “When you do a devised writing piece, you can’t pin-point what it exactly is about, because it is about everything… it’s almost like a puzzle where every piece and gesture is important.”

Through the characters who are driven by their deepest desires, the play navigates the complexities of modern day relationships, which see people grapple with the voids that exist within them. “The world has changed so much that I don’t even recognise what it was 10 years ago. Today, every piece of information is accessible on your phone, people are just watching reels all the time and everyone is connected to everyone. It is a different world we are living in, which is why we need to tell the stories which are about the present time,” he said, adding that he can’t even take to the audience the plays that he had written in 2004 or 2007 because the world we inhabit is no longer the same. The play would next be travelling to Jaipur, Pune and Bengaluru with a return to Mumbai as he takes it to the Prithvi Theatre.

A notable name in the world of theatre and literature, it is said that Kaul’s work appears personal in nature, especially his latest book Rooh, a travelogue that sees him travelling to his home in Kashmir as he shares his memories of the time he spent there as a child. Does this play’s theme also borrow from his nomadic life — Kaul is known to take off for weeks and months at a time to have some peace as he pieces together a book or a play.

“When you are on a stage doing a really emotional scene, and you get a pin-drop silence from the audience and they too cry alongside you, you get thrilled. You know from your gut that you were performing, it was a work of fiction but you borrowed from your life and were so honest with its portrayal that it moved people. Similarly, as a writer, it is a skill and I am honoured that people are moved by it,” he concluded.