There is a potent kind of energy in a room, when actors prepare, and the evening at Andheri West's Laxmi Estate is no different. The small rehearsal space has expanded into a stage with Rajat Kapoor doing tai chi, while Jim Sarbh stretches and does headstands, as Tom Waits' Satisfied blasts on a speaker. Everyone's individual efforts blend into a collective as director Rehaan Engineer calls for actors to change into costumes and enact a scene from One Flea Spare for us.

Having first premiered in 1995 at the Bush Theatre in London, One Flea Spare is an award-winning play by Naomi Wallace. The story revolves around five characters in plague-ridden London in the 17th century. "When you have a crisis, such as a war situation, then the norms of society break down. The situation is anarchic, much like in this play, and anarchy is good to throw away existing structures," says Kapoor, an acclaimed theatre director, who plays William Snelgrave.