A sudden bolt of lightning flashes across the sky, sparking desire in a maiden’s heart and off she goes to meet her lover! Wait, playback and zoom in 1000x to exactly what happened within these milliseconds. This is a forensic investigation into why the Abhisarika runs. Audiences! Let’s ask the witnesses – the trees of the forest, the snakes, the forest ghouls, the lightning itself!

Just like six blind men describe an elephant, each witness reveals a fragmented truth about its role in the Abhisarika’s iconography, elucidated in a song. The audience is invited to choose the sequence of motifs from the set design to hear their songs and string this performance of English spoken-word poetry and Indian dance together.

Created and Performed by: Priyanka Jain