A haunted palace, hidden performers and plenty of surprises await Chennai audiences

The next time someone tells you to watch your surroundings at a play, take it seriously. In Nee Paathiya???, the stage is not the only place where something might happen. This weekend, Theatre Genie brings the play again to the stage for a full-length immersive ghost comedy that wants to blur the comfortable line between the stage and the seats.

This immersive Chennai play blurs the line between audience and performer

“We didn’t want the audience to simply watch a ghost comedy. We wanted them to feel like they had walked into one,” says director Girish Kumar, summing up the production rather neatly.

The 90-minute, family-friendly show takes the supernatural and gives it a decidedly comic spin. There are ghosts, mystery, visual spectacle, music, wordplay and a few jump scares, but the real fun lies in not quite knowing where the performance ends and the audience begins.

Theatre Genie has deliberately planted performers among the audience, meaning that not everyone around you is necessarily there just to watch. The production relies heavily on lighting, movement, mime, artwork and music, creating an atmosphere where even a seemingly ordinary moment can turn into part of the story.

It is a considerable shift for the company, which wanted to move away from the more sound-led storytelling of its previous production and explore what live theatre can do visually. “We wanted to shift the focus towards the sense of sight,” Girish explains, with the production leaning into physicality and visual storytelling.

The characters themselves have been given their own histories and quirks.

Bharathi Selvam plays Shanthi, a wannabe YouTuber chef whose confidence and sheer personality add another layer of disorder to the haunted palace. “Her personality itself creates comedy,” Bharathi says. Shanthi is bold, witty and brave, particularly when things begin to go spectacularly wrong.

Then there is Dinesh Karthik as Ashok, the rational one. Ashok questions everything and refuses to accept supernatural explanations easily, which becomes slightly inconvenient when he finds himself in a haunted palace. “Even the ghost shuns him,” Dinesh laughs.

That contrast is part of the show’s appeal. The characters do not all respond to the same strange circumstances in the same way, allowing the comedy to emerge from their personalities as much as from the plot.

The play has been staged before, with two houseful shows, but this edition has been developed further with new visual moments, mystical interludes, music, lighting and additional character humour. Even those familiar with the earlier version can expect a few fresh surprises.

So, step into the haunting. Just remember that once you are inside, the ghosts may not be the only ones putting on a performance.

Rs 299 onwards. On August 15, at 4 pm and 7 pm. At Medai-The Stage, Alwarpet.

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