Hyderabad’s stage set for a riveting return of ‘Deadly Demise of Dominic DeSouza’

Since childhood, we’ve been enamoured by murder mysteries, from Sherlock Holmes and Byomkesh Bakshi to the works of Agatha Christie; all of us had our favourites. Even on screen, characters like Benoit Blanc, wonderfully embodied by Daniel Craig, have stolen our hearts. In line with this love for mystery, Sairbeen Theatre Collective brings their play, Deadly Demise of Dominic DeSouza, back on stage after eight years.

Catch Deadly Demise of Dominic DeSouza for an evening of humour and suspense

The play is an original murder mystery as well as a comedy. “It’s a typical whodunit. There’s this bunch of suspects and very comical, clumsy cops who are trying to solve the case,” says Asghar Ali Khan, the playwright.

Staging it after a hiatus, significant changes were made to the play this time round. “The idea for bringing it back was rooted in having a sequel. But we thought how many people are going to remember a play done years back? Hence, we’re staging it again and will introduce the sequel some time in early summer,” explains Asghar.

Compared to the previous script, the new rendition highlights an unnamed character who was in the periphery before. “We gave more heft to his role, and he plays a central part in the sequel as well. So, the play ends with a very ‘important thing’ happening to him,” adds Asghar. Additionally, they’ve also leaned more into comedy that holdsa bit more maturity, forgoing the initial slapstick comedy.

Asghar builds anticipation by letting us in on a very special detail. “In the whodunit trope, you have a bunch of characters and each one is fairly suspicious. At the same time, you can’t really pinpoint one of them. There are multiple ways to go about dealing with this trope. One is when all of them are suspicious. But then one of the characters turns out to be guilty. Another is when none of those characters are the killer, and a third person who’s very vaguely introduced somewhere, is the culprit. Or another third group would be something like in Murder on the Orient Express, where all of them are the killers. But we have a fourth angle, which I will not reveal to you,” he teases.

As the play moves through various settings, and lighting such as handheld torches build an atmospheric tension, Deadly Demise of Dominic DeSouza is just a taste of what is yet to come from Sairbeen Theatre Collective.

Tickets at Rs 500.

November 22, 5 pm & 8 pm.

At Rangabhoomi Events and Spaces, Serilingampalle.

Email: anshula.u@newindianexpress.com

X: @indulgexpress

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