Akshay Gandhi’s ‘It is What It is’ is an antithetical love letter to theatre

Last year, I found myself in a sunlit classroom, barefoot with my peers, as Akshay Gandhi swept us into a world of improvisation, vulnerability, and unfiltered creativity.

The workshop was part of my playwriting course and left an imprint on my understanding of theatre — one that has only deepened as I’ve followed Akshay’s journey since. So when his latest creation, It Is What It Is, was announced, I knew I had to be there, front row, ready to witness the next chapter in his artistic evolution.

What unfolded that evening was not just a play, but a living, breathing paradox: a piece that both embraces and subverts the very idea of theatre itself.

The Curtain Rises Before the Curtain
From the moment we, the audience, enter the theatre — even before the third bell rings, we see our character, Akshay himself, veiled in darkness, waiting for us.

It was a subtle but powerful invitation: the performance had begun before we even realised. As we settled into our seats, texts flickered onto a mesh screen, cryptic and poetic, drawing us into a liminal space between anticipation and uncertainty.

This prelude set the tone for the entire evening — a gentle disruption of the familiar, a reminder that theatre is as much about the spaces between as it is about the spectacle itself.

Simplicity with Infinite Layers
It Is What It Is unfolds with a deceptive simplicity.

On the surface, it is a solo performance — Akshay alone, navigating the stage, his presence at once commanding and vulnerable. Yet, as the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that this simplicity is a carefully constructed illusion. Each gesture, each pause, each shift in lighting is layered with meaning. The play becomes a mirror, not just reflecting Akshay’s inner world, but also ours. There were moments when I felt as though I was looking not just at a character, but at a distilled version of my own anxieties, hopes, and contradictions.

The universality of the themes — loneliness, self-discovery, the search for meaning — was palpable, yet never heavy-handed.

The Alchemy of Technology and Theatre
What truly sets It Is What It Is apart is its experimental use of technology.

The interplay of projections, mesh screens, and dynamic lighting was not mere ornamentation; it was integral to the storytelling. At times, the digital elements acted as extensions of Akshay’s psyche — fractured, elusive, and hauntingly beautiful.

It was a bold reminder that technology, often seen as antithetical to the intimacy of live performance, can, in the right hands, deepen that intimacy rather than diminish it.

A Collective Act of Creation
One of the most striking aspects of the evening was the palpable sense of collaboration.

Though Akshay stood alone on stage, the heart and creativity of every team member pulsed through the production. The lighting was precise, sculpting the space with shadows and highlights that echoed the emotional landscape of the play. The artwork and projections were evocative, never overwhelming the live performance but always in conversation with it. The music, at once subtle and stirring, underscored the shifting moods without dictating them.

And the writing — my goodness, the writing — was immaculate: spare yet poetic, direct yet open-ended, always inviting us to fill in the blanks with our own stories.

The Audience as Witness and Participant
Perhaps the most radical gesture of It Is What It Is was its treatment of the audience.

From the very beginning, we were not passive spectators but active participants in the unfolding drama. The texts on the screen, the direct address, the moments of silence — all were invitations to engage, to reflect, to inhabit the liminal space between performer and observer. There was a sense of communion, a shared vulnerability that lingered long after the final blackout.

A very unique way of breaking the fourth wall, which seemed so absolute at the initiation of the play, before the third bell.

A Twisted Retelling: The Rabbit and the Tortoise
One of the evening’s most surprising — and memorable — moments came with Akshay’s twisted retelling of the classic rabbit and tortoise race.

We all know the fable: slow and steady wins the race. But in Akshay’s hands, the story is turned inside out. Projected visuals and a shifting soundscape accompanied his performance as he faded in and out of the characters. Here, the rabbit isn’t just arrogant, nor the tortoise simply patient.

Instead, their race becomes a metaphor for the relentless pace of modern life versus the quiet resistance of introspection and overthinking.

An Antithetical Love Letter
In the end, It Is What It Is is, as my headline suggests, an antithetical love letter to theatre.

It both reveres and questions the traditions of the stage, embracing technology without losing sight of the human heartbeat at its core. It is a play that asks us to look inward and outward at once, to find meaning in both presence and absence, to accept that sometimes, the most profound truths are the ones that resist easy articulation.

As I left the theatre that night, I felt a quiet sense of gratitude — not just for the performance, but for the reminder that theatre, at its best, is a space of radical honesty and collective dreaming. Akshay Gandhi’s It Is What It Is doesn’t just tell a story; it creates a world in which we are all, for a brief and luminous moment, fully alive with all our jiterry and sqibbly feelings.