Set in a Roman tavern during the tumultuous reign of Emperor Caligula, the play unfolds over a raucous gambling night that spirals into chaos. Caligula, infamous for his excesses, wagers a prized possession in a bet that soon threatens the very fabric of Roman order.
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!”
The story opens with a fateful game of dice with the aesthetics of first-century Rome. It traces the tragicomic rise of Selanus (Neil Bhoopalam), an ambitious young man, and his horse, Incitatus, who becomes the talk of the Roman elite. Garima Yajnik’s Ameana finds herself in love with Selanus but caught in an absurd marriage arrangement with Incitatus. As the plot twists, the audience learns that the horse isn’t a horse at all but a cunning stratagem by Emperor Caligula (Akash Khurana) to win Ameana. Rome is forced to believe the ruse; any dissenters face Caligula’s trademark “chop-chop” punishment.
Using this bizarre premise, the play pokes fun at celebrity culture, greed, and the erosion of public institutions. The best friend trio of Clodia, Julia and Tullia glopped everyone in laughter with their hook lines. Whereas, every girl who is in her late 20s could highly relate with Ameana and her father, Fuficius (Deesh Mariwala), whose conversation is about him wanting her daughter to find a suitable suitor for marriage. Meanwhile, Radhika Sawhney’s Valeria shines with effortless charm as a mother more eager to be Incitatus’ mother-in-law than anything else.
The production ensemble includes Akash Khurana, Neil Bhoopalam, 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, who portrayed some prominent characters.