One can never read plays alone; because of the number of characters, it’s always better to read it in a group,” believes city-based applied theatre practitioner Aanchal Jain, whose arts-based organisation Thought Project has initiated Curtain Call, a Zoom session where participants — even those from non-theatre backgrounds — can meet virtually to read and discuss plays. This weekend, the group is hosting a community reading of playwright Mahesh Dattani’s play, On A Muggy Night in Mumbai.

Jain tells us that the idea stemmed from her own experience of being unable to prepare for a play by herself when the lockdown started. Realising that this could be something they could extend to a larger community, they started Curtain Call in June, focusing on plays that highlight social themes. She adds that people can sign up to be a reader or a viewer; readers are assigned characters and expected to read aloud their lines. “We believe that theatre can be a powerful tool to 
address various socio-political issues. Accordingly, our choice of plays is mediated by the thought of having a guided discussion on them, post the readings,” Jain elaborates.