Few things are as self-destructive as completely surrendering your will and subjugating yourself to the whims and fancies of another person. The power equation this creates is liable to ensure that your own desires and self-worth are quashed with time. You might not realise it at first. Your oppressor might use unassuming tactics to begin with. But the more you bend, the more you'll crawl. And before you know it, chances are that he or she has so much control over you that you are made to dance like a puppet.

That's one of the central themes that playwright Eugene Ionesco explored in the script for The Lesson (1951). It is one of the earlier examples of his foray into the Theatre of the Absurd, and Mumbai-based Sukant Goel has now directed a version of it that will premiere this weekend as part of the Prithvi Theatre Festival.