Cut to 2020, in between grappling with online classes, a social disconnect and adapting a somatic practise on a virtual medium, Mallika felt an urgent calling to re-examine the play. And that’s how Hidden in Plain Sight Version 2.0, which is set to take place this weekend, was developed as an online performance.

In the pre-shot piece that lies at the cross-section of theatre, Zoom and cinema, Mallika will essay the role of four women in the city. “Here, the city is more than a location; it refers to a cosmopolitan spirit. The first character is an unnamed girl isolated in an apartment, who hasn’t found the energy to make new connections; the second, a girl who has decided to not be consumed by the rat race and is looking to find herself,” Mallika elaborates. Then, there’s a middle-aged woman with a glorious past, of which, only memories remain as she’s caught up in a domestic hell. “The last character [is a personalised] Mailer Daemon [a feature of email servers] is someone who’s kind of watching over these three women. She knows their private lives and communications, but can’t make a difference to the same,” the actor informs us.

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Packing in a Bollywood cabaret number and letters by a Zen monk, the play is set to explore three wide issues. “We’re responding to the lesser-addressed side of the pandemic, the mental distress of being alone. We’re also looking at the forced shift to the digital medium, which is novel but is a struggle, and the importance of voice and breath as an antidote to Zoom fatigue and saturation caused by online images,” she explains, adding, “Ultimately, the aim is to tell a story 
that’s uplifting.”

On: April 23 to 25, different timings 
Log on to: insider.in
Cost: Rs 500