There is something of the greedy actor within director Danish Husain. He shyly admits that the experience of playing both parts in Ira Lewis’ Chinese Coffee was revelatory. “I had tasted blood,” he says of the moment in 2019 when he was forced to look for a new cast mate in lieu of the busy Vrajesh Hirjee.

By then, the actor-director had already staged the play for close to seven years. Hoshruba Repertory’s return to the Prithvi Theatre this weekend with the trio of Husain, Vrajesh Hirjee and Naved Aslam marks 10 years of the production since 2012. “It is a story about almost everyone in this city who is working against hope to break through,” he tells us.  The play is built around the conversation of two artists and friends, Jake and Harry, struggling to come to terms with their lives and their work. Husain adds that it is also about not giving up. “It tells you that if you believe in what you have done and have done it well, then there will be a way out.”