One such was Weigler's The Alchemy of Astonishment, now a book that has established a pattern of unforgettable moments in performance and developed a strategy of a staging vocabulary using 55 teaching cards.

"We began with sensitisation exercises for the ensemble of queer and non-queer persons. This was followed by an open script with scenarios of queer realities and expression, allowing actors to interpret them," says Phukan, adding that actors did their own research, too. They were also involved in a physical process that included exercises, which Phukan describes as 'sport-like'.

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The result, thus, is a series of 15-16 intimate vignettes, some non-verbal, that are a window to queer realities. Spanning 90 minutes, they intend to raise important questions with the audience and provide some resolutions. "In some cases, the actors who are also authors here, pose them directly," says Phukan. The making of the play has also been documented by filmmaker Malati Rao for an independent film. "I had half-hour-long sensitisation sessions with each actor. The discussions we had were meaningful, even if they didn't make it to stage," he says about the film.

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