Forgiveness and revenge are words we reach for when something hurts. We say choosing one will finally calm the mind but Aunty Moxie Is Delulu doesn’t believe that things end so neatly. It begins from the feeling that when hurt, the mind returns to the same thoughts repeatedly.
Presented by Okapi and commissioned by the Theatriculate Fellowship initiative by Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Art Research, the play is written, directed, and performed by Ashiqa Salvan. She speaks with a perspective from inside the work, rather than someone understanding from the outside. “When something happens to you, especially that feels unfair, your thoughts don’t become clear,” she says. “You keep replaying it. You think, ‘should I forgive, should I say something so that they understand how much they hurt me?’. But whether you forgive or take revenge, you are still thinking about the same thing.”
At the centre of the play is Aunty Moxie, an older woman who appears angry, confused, and difficult to be around. She complains, rambles, and does not make much sense. We are never told exactly what has happened to her. “I didn’t want to give the audience a clear reason for why she is like this,” Ashiqa explains. “Because in real life too, we don’t get reasons. We just see someone behaving badly or strangely and decide that they are crazy or irritating. We don’t stop and think about what kind of life someone must have lived to reach that point.”
Aunty Moxie Is Delulu unfolds in a surreal, dream-like way rather than a realistic one. Alongside Aunty Moxie are Nemesis, the Greek goddess of revenge, and Ganga, the goddess of forgiveness. Although gods, they are not treated as moral guides but as uncertain individuals. “Even these gods are trapped in roles that were given to them,” Ashiqa elaborates. “What if Nemesis is tired of punishing people? What if Ganga is angry, polluted, and exhausted? Why do we expect forgiveness to absorb endless harm without reacting?”
A cat moves quietly through these different worlds, and a large, unexplained egg sits on stage. These images are never explained. “I wanted it to feel like a dream because in dreams, things don’t have to make sense. You don’t ask why something is there. You just feel it. I wanted the audience to experience the play in that way, without trying to solve it,” Ashiqa explains. She performs alone, changing costumes on stage, never leaving the space.
The play does not offer an answer about what is right or wrong, but it invites greater insight. “Forgiveness and revenge are not solutions,” Ashiqa shares. “What we actually need is empathy. Because the person who hurt you has probably been hurt too. And sometimes, without realising it, we might also be the reason someone else is in pain.”
Tickets at Rs 400.
January 31, 7.30 pm.
At Rangabhoomi — Events and Spaces, Serilingampalle.
Email: anshula.u@newindianexpress.com
X: @indulgexpress
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