GRAVE MATTERS TAKE STAGE

This play imagines the discovery of Dara Shukoh's grave and the chaos it unleashes through the eyes of two sex workers

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DARA SHUKOH, THE Mughal prince often remembered as a philosopher, pluralist, and the "lost heir" to the empire, continues to be a figure of intrigue with his grave never conclusively identified. This absence, and the questions it raises about history and the paths not taken, becomes the seed for Theatre Nisha's The Grave of Dara Shukoh, a new play written, designed, and directed by V Balakrishnan, featuring actors Shakthi Ramani and Meera Sitaraman. Set not in the 17th century but in the present day, the narrative unfolds through the eyes of two sex workers caught in the chaos of riots triggered by the search for the prince's resting place.

Balakrishnan, who has long been fascinated by the prince, traces this intrigue back to his 2016 staging of Indira Parthasarathy's Aurangzeb.