THE HORSE Comes to Aadyam Theatre

Aadyam Theatre will conclude its seventh season with The Horse, an absurdist comedy directed by Sangeet Natak Akademi Award-winner Sunil Shanbag. Based on a text by Hungarian playwright Julius Hay, this uproarious Roman satire is the first out-and-out comedy of the season, showcasing at Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi on September 6 and 7, 2025.

The story begins in a tavern, where the unhinged narcissistic emperor, Caligula, and his subjects are gathered for a night of gambling. With each incident unfolding, the story gets as absurd as the emperor. The night of gambling progresses, and a young boy named Selanus enters the scene, clutching whatever belongings he hasn't lost to Lady Luck's cruel sense of humour. One of his belongings includes a dapple-grey horse named Incitatus, who is blissfully unaware that he's about to become the center of Rome's hilarious turn of political events. The boy finds himself in a predicament of having staked all his valuables, except his dignity, which he bravely gambles when he proposes to wager his horse. Little did this hapless boy know that this desperate bet would unravel a riotous comedy, sending the empire into a series of events that question Caligula's authority and Rome's sanity.                   

Set in ancient Rome, The Horse is a comedic meditation on authority, greed, ambition, and absurdity. Shanbag transforms a historical farce into a mirror for our times, exploring celebrity obsession, institutional erosion, and the delusions of leadership through biting humour and musical bravado. The production's soundscape and visual grandeur will seamlessly integrate into the narrative, creating an immersive experience that honours the European origin of the text and its Indian theatrical adaptation. 

The production boasts a stellar set of artists, including Akash Khurana as the mercurial Caligula, the Emperor and Neil Bhoopalam as the young boy Selenus. Harssh Singh, Rajat Kaul, Rozzlin Pereira, Deesh Mariwala, Radhika Sawhney, Garima Yajnik, Asmit Pathare, Digvijay Sawant, Kaustubh Harit, Navi Khan, Divyesh Vijayakar, Tanay Malhara, Mayuri Ravindra, Shubhashree Sahoo, Shreya Sandilya, Prerna Joshi, and Rahul Kumar will also be seen in prominent roles.

Additionally, the musical comedy features songs penned by the renowned voice artist and lyricist Asif Ali Beg, with music composition by Kaizad Gherda. Kushal Mahant helms the stage design, while the acclaimed Costume Designer Marvin D'Souza is in charge of recreating the costumes from the Julio-Claudian era, and Hidayat Sami is the man behind the lighting design.

Talking about directing The Horse for Aadyam Theatre, Sunil Shanbag said, “I first read The Horse in the mid-1980s when there was interest in East European theatre writing in the experimental theatre world in both Marathi and Hindi in Mumbai. The play struck me as a wonderful example of a biting satire lampooning authoritarian absurdity, blind sycophancy, and the complicity of the elites. I was in no position to do the play at that time, but it has stayed with me for almost forty years, and I am grateful that the Aadyam Theatre is making the long-held wish come true!”

After a five-decade-long career, Shanbag has gained proficiency in different media. Since his debut with Aada Chautal under the tutelage of the legendary Satyadev Dubey, the director has brought innovation to the form through his experiments. Be it plays within plays for productions like Sex, Morality, and Censorship, or narrating the plight of the Mumbai mill workers through an interdisciplinary mosaic with Cotton 56 and Polyester 84, he has boldly affirmed his allegiance to the craft. He debuted on the Aadyam stage with Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon, an adaptation of William Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well for the very first season. Shanbag has previously staged experimental plays for Aadyam like Loretta, which was inspired by tiatr, a peculiar form of musical Kokani theatre. With The Horse, the director will explore the comedic undertones of authority and celebrity worship.