Stuck

When I first met the writer-director Maneesh Verma, we both connected over the possibilities of video projections to go beyond traditional stage design. Our story is set in the mountains of Garhwal, India and we decided to use video projections to bring that world to the audience without it overpowering the narrative. Throughout the performance we witness the mountain backdrop, changing and moving with time. Instead of going for a realistic approach of showing real-life photographs, we chose a stylized hand-drawn, watercolour based design language whose aesthetic and colour heightened the stage action, complemented by Vishal's dynamic light design and Shobhit Tandon's eclectic sound design. We zoom in and see different parts of the mountains across different scenes – a special shoutout to Abhishek Kamboj for operating the projections smoothly across all the shows. There is also an opening video sequence that focuses on one of the central themes in the story – the complexity of urban relationships juxtaposed with the simplicity of the mountain life.