In 2017, local South Asian performing arts group Pratidhwani collaborated with West Seattle theatre ArtsWest to co-produce Ayad Akhtar’s The Who & the What. Now, the two groups are teaming up again to co-produce an Obie Award-winning play by Rajiv Joseph: Guards at the Taj.
Joseph’s play centers, as the title suggests, on two guards, who find themselves in the position of making impossible choices, all against the backdrop of the newly-completed Taj Mahal. “This makes the play a perfect vehicle for implementing Pratidhwani’s mission,” said Agastya Kohli, Artistic Director of Pratidhwani’s Drama Wing. “Both characters are south Asian, in a story set in the context of the Taj Mahal, arguably the most iconic Indian monument.”
For ArtsWest’s Artistic Director Mathew Wright, this production has been a long time in coming. “I’ve always been a big fan of Rajiv Joseph, first through studying Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo and Gruesome Playground Injuries, and then branching out into even his lesser-known work, like Animals Out of Paper, which is just a gorgeous play,” Wright explained. “So I’ve known Guards since it premiered and always loved it.”
Since 2017, Kohli and Wright have collaborated on various initiatives. “We’ve had a sustained and successful relationship for many years now,” Kohli said. “So when Mat approached me and said there was an opportunity to collaborate for a show in the very first slot of their new season, it was just a matter of finding the right play that both our organizations would like to produce, and it took very little time for us to come together on Guards at the Taj as that play.”
Wright immediately thought of Samip Raval to direct the play. “In 2015, I saw Samip’s production of it at ACT and thought he brought some deep and really special things out of it,” Wright recalled. “It was funny and beautiful and heartbreaking, just like it should be.”
Kohli agreed. “Samip Raval has previously directed separately for both Pratidhwani and ArtsWest, including our previous co-production of The Who & The What,” Kohli recounted, “and was an easy choice for both organizations to helm this production.”
For Raval, Joseph’s dark comedy was irresistible. “I have always had a fascination with Samuel Beckett’s play, Waiting For Godot,” Raval shared. “Guards At The Taj, synonymous to Godot in so many ways, centers on two people who can’t live with or without each other in what becomes an existential duet.”
Raval’s first encounter with Rajiv Joseph’s work was with Gruesome Playground Injuries. “I was drawn to the playwright’s seamless ability to create tragic and hilarious, sometimes absurd, circumstances for the characters and bring them to occupy space on the page with so many possibilities,” Raval remembered.
In Guards, Raval appreciates the exploration of friendship, beauty, and duty. “When I first read Guards At The Taj, I found myself laughing while being haunted by the idea of the cost of beauty, or what we consider to be beauty,” he said. “It was something that resonated with me at the time and continues to when I investigate what moves me aesthetically and why or how it impacts my spirituality.”
Teaming up with Raval is Divya Rajan as dramaturg and Assistant Director. “Divya specializes in devised work and mythological storytelling,” Kohli said. “For this production, she will work with Samip as a cultural and historical consultant and researcher, as well as contribute her artistic assistance as the director requires it.”
Pratidhwani and ArtsWest are creating a smooth division of labor. “This is the first show in ArtsWest’s 2024-25 season, and ArtsWest is able to bring their significant resources to this production in terms of venue, staff and theatrical expertise, not to mention a subscriber base!” Kohli elaborated. “Pratidhwani on the other hand is able to lean on our community relationships to find the artistic talent for this production, actors of course, but also Indian classical musicians, as well as cultural and dramaturgical expertise.”
Wright also emphasized the team effort. “Pratidhwani brings a wealth of knowledge, people and resources, especially regarding Rajiv’s work and the time, place and circumstances the action of Guards is situated in,” he said. “Pratidhwani has brought actors, dramaturgy, an assistant director, and musicians to the table in ways that would have been impossible for ArtsWest to do alone.”
Those two actors are Varun Kainth, who portrays Babur, and Sumant Gupta, who plays the role of Humayun. “What I find most fascinating about Babur is his boundless optimism and imagination,” Kainth said. “He’s a dreamer trapped in a world of monotony, and his ability to find joy and wonder in the simplest things is both endearing and inspiring.”
Humayun, in contrast, is more down to earth. “Humayun is faced with a choice between success in the corporate world versus things that are dear to his heart,” Gupta said. “Prep work has included doing things that Humayun enjoys, like bird watching.”
Both actors are working on bonding with each other, as well as developing their individual character expressions. “To prepare for Babur, I’m focusing on developing a strong sense of physical comedy and improvisation,” Kainth reported. “I’m also working on understanding the character’s underlying vulnerability and longing.”
Rehearsal isn’t always easy. “The biggest challenge is balancing the comedic elements of the play with the deeper emotional core of the character,” Kainth said. “It’s essential to find the right comedic timing without sacrificing the character’s authenticity.”
Gupta is tackling the same contrasts. “The play has numerous levels of complexity,” he described, “a rollercoaster ride involving switches between light and darkness, comedy and tragedy, an actor’s dream which is also very challenging to do justice to.”
But Kainth and Gupta are grateful for the strength of their teamwork. “Sumant is an incredible collaborator,” Kainth said of Gupta. “His keen curiosity about his character Humayun is inspiring.”
Gupta returns the sentiment about Kainth. “Varun is already a personal friend of mine and a co-actor from a previous show which helps our on-stage chemistry a lot,” he said. “A skilled and experienced actor, Varun expertly traverses the complexity of emotions of his character with verisimilitude.”
This production of Guards is part of Pratidhwani’s emergence from the Covid-19 pandemic. “Just like so many producing companies, Pratidhwani was forced to step back from in-person performances during the pandemic,” Kohli said. “Like many others, we pivoted to online programming to keep our artistic community and our patrongs engaged, and in 2022, we finally returned to in-person shows with two productions, one outdoor free play, and one indoor production of original monologues that year.”
In 2023, Pratidhwani returned to presenting mainstage productions. “In 2024, Guards is already our fourth production of the year. In other words, we are fully back!” Kohli enthused. “Looking forward, in May 2025, we are co-producing Madhuri Shekar’s House of Joy with Seattle Public Theatre, which will be co-directed by Moumita Bhattacharya and myself.”
For now, seven years after their last co-production with ArtsWest, Kohli is excited about connecting with ArtsWest patrons. “This is a story about beauty, friendship, duty and loyalty, a story of right intentions with unintended consequences, a story that couldn’t be more universal,” he said. “This is exactly the kind of play that allows Pratidhwani to invite potentially new audiences who may be unfamiliar with our work, and create opportunities and exposure for our artists.”
Guards at the Taj runs from September 12 to October 6 at ArtsWest, 4711 California Avenue Southwest, Seattle.
