Aasakta Kalamanch returns to Bengaluru with Jennifer Haley’s sci-fi thriller The Nether 

Directed by Mohit Takalkar, according to the synopsis of the play, The Nether is a virtual wonderland that provides total sensory immersion. The play talks about how the internet has evolved into The Nether, a vast network of virtual reality realms, where one logs in, chooses an identity, and indulges their every desire.

Pune’s popular theatre troupe Aasakta Kalamanch, founded in 2003, is back in Bengaluru this week with the play The Nether, on January 24 and 25 at Ranga Shankara, J.P. Nagar.

Directed by Mohit Takalkar, according to the synopsis of the play, The Nether is a virtual wonderland that provides total sensory immersion. The play talks about how the internet has evolved into The Nether, a vast network of virtual reality realms, where one logs in, chooses an identity, and indulges their every desire.

But when a young detective uncovers a disturbing brand of entertainment, she triggers an interrogation into the darkest corners of the imagination. The play delves into how the users discover they have made emotional attachments in their realm that blinds them to the greater questions of ethical behavior, both in the imagination and the outside world.  

Winner of the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize written by Jennifer Haley, The Nether is both a serpentine crime drama and haunting sci-fi thriller that explores the consequences of living out one’s private dreams.  

Asked what drew Mohit to direct Jennifer Haley’s The Nether, he said when he had read the play back in 2015 and found it was exciting, challenging and disturbing at the same time.

“I had attempted to do this play earlier but somehow could not stage it. Jennifer starts the play with a simple instruction of which time period the play is set in, and she says ‘time-soon’, and this time seemed like an impending Domb set on us. It made the play sharper for me. The debate that she puts in the play about morality, ethics, legitimising morbid imagination and more throughout the play, is what drew me toward directing the play,” he added. 

The play explores the boundaries between imagination and morality. On asked how the director approached translating these complex themes to the stage, he said the contemporary digital culture that is limited to a layman is just the tip of the iceberg. Mohit said that it was a great experience mounting this play.