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

Who are the most interesting types of individuals If therersquos 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 DangerCast members at the playrsquos rehearsal PicsAnurag AhireAn anthology of four independent oneact plays this show tells stories of women who meet each other at the strangest moments in time ldquoAs the playrsquos name indicates there is an inherent wariness towards the unknown in each character The situations in which these women meet range from commonplace an influencerrsquos bedroom or the reception of a career counselling centre to obscure a crematorium or the riyaaz room of a singerrdquo 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 knowProduced by The JeffGoldberg Studio the playrsquos director Yashhraj Siingh calls it a satirical dark comedy ldquoAll the four stories have some level of simplicity and ease that makes the play engaging without you even realising it mdash you suddenly find yourself immersed in their realityrdquo says Siingh who is also a faculty member at the studio He adds that the great bit about theatre as a medium is that therersquos a whole lot of room to improvise and for the characters to grow Itrsquos a collaborative processMahathi RameshRamesh has been toying with the concept of the play since the COVID19 lockdowns ldquoI had the idea of writing a short story of two women meeting outside a crematorium It turned into a oneact play which turned into four oneact plays I kept putting pen to paper until something interesting crystallisedrdquo explained the deacutebut scriptwriterBut was writing allfemale characters a conscious attempt The scriptwriter shares that she wanted to tell honest stories with layered and dimensional characters as it was her firsttime 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 didnrsquot sound authentic or wellrounded ldquoSo instead of doing a disservice to the male experience I stuck to eight female characters and did my bestrdquo said the debutant who is excited for the showrsquos 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 ldquoI love such characters because they challenge us to find empathy in places we wouldnrsquot have thought to search beforerdquoSiingh says that for the multilayered characters the casting process was rather organic ldquoWe held a studiowide casting of all female actors past present and alumni from The Jeff Goldberg Studio but didnrsquot have anything specific in mind Thatrsquos the beauty of theatre itrsquos not as visual as films it allows actors to blow you away with their craftrdquo 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 ldquoOnly then the art has wonrdquo he maintainsOn November 25 and 26 December 2 and 3 730 pmAt The Jeff Goldberg Studio 3rd floor Links Building Linking Road Khar WestLog on to inbookmyshowcomCost Rs 399