Meyerhold's biomechanics, Commedia dell'arte, Stanislavsky, Grotowski, Niky Wolcz, Dalcroze's eurhythmics, vaudeville, slapsticks, acrobatics, Linklater and Laban. It may be somewhat hard to imagine how this mini glossary of theatrical techniques, and their creators can all come together in one play. But a quick look at Daniel Irizarry's exciting career trajectory makes it seem plausible. For, the critically acclaimed New York-based actor, director and teacher, who was born and raised in Puerto Rico, hasn't just learnt these terms in the confines of a classroom in Columbia University, where he pursued his MFA in acting, or The University of Puerto Rico, where he earned his bachelor's degree in drama. Irizarry, instead, has quite literally travelled to the seats of theatre the world over, staging productions and teaching students in Poland, Germany, Cyprus, Japan, South Korea, Scotland and Romania.

It was in his capacity as visiting assistant professor at Ankara's Bilkent University in 2017 that he met Mumbai-based actor, director and teacher Raghav Aggarwal, who happened to be in Turkey for a production of Antony and Cleopatra. Aggarwal returned to India, and when he had the logistics in place to invite Irizarry for a workshop at his acting company, The Actor's Craft, things transpired quickly. "We connected artistically, had an ongoing dialogue on Facebook, and here I am, eating butter chicken and chicken biryani every day," quips Irizarry, as he wraps up the day's rehearsal at an Andheri venue. The play in question is Nikolai Gogol's The Inspector General, an iconic comedy of errors, which though was written as a comment on the widespread political corruption in Imperial Russia, continues to have a universal appeal.