Blind dating and blind food tasting challenges are passé, enter blind theatre

White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, the "astonishingly original" play is coming to Dubai. This would be the second time, worldwide, the play will be staged in Arabic.

As an audience, you are clueless about the production you've bought tickets to. The sole actor on the stage is as clueless. Blind dating and blind food tasting challenges are passé, enter blind theatre. Three local actors will perform the internationally-acclaimed White Rabbit, Red Rabbit by Iranian writer Nassim Soleimanpour. They'll walk to the stage, will be handed over the script in a sealed envelope, and right then the curtains will be raised. With no rehearsals and director, and a different actor each of three nights (August 13-14-15, 7.30 pm) this experiment will come to live at The Junction, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai. "The audiences and actor would discover the play, together," says Gautam Goenka, co-founder, The Junction. It was described as an "astonishingly original" play by The New York Times. 

Since its premiere in 2011, the play has been translated into more than 25 different languages and performed over 1,000 times. An n actor can perform the same only once in their acting career, and local actor Mohamed El Sawi (pictured: left) will be the second actor, worldwide, to perform it in Arabic. Says Sawi, "Oh My God! The first Arabic performance too was by an Egyptian actor (2015, Cairo)." He plans to carry a bag along, with maybe a carrot or a banana! "It would be amazing to experience restriction and freedom, simultaneously. What if I walk in a tuxedo and the script demands the opposite?" he laughs, "Also, I'll not meet the other two actors, who go after me to perform the same in English!" He adds, "This experience is even scarier than sky diving. I am nervous, worse than how one feels just before the big jump!"

Actor Asad Raza Khan (pictured: left) should be fine with it as he is keen to walk in blind, avoiding if at all, any information on the web. "Initially, I thought it would be an improv comedy act, later I realised it's a script that an actor has to untangle on the stage. I will be one with the audience knowing zilch." He is aware that an actor would be provided with few props like a water bottle, ladder, glass, and chair, "What have I gotten myself into, this is nerve-wracking."

Day three would see actor Malavika Varadan (pictured: right). So then, the protagonist isn't a man? "How often do you get to play a role, which is not appearance, race, or gender-specific! I want to keep the experience as authentic as possible so I've decided not to read about it, for that's what the playwright intended." She plans to switch off for a while, just before she steps on the stage, "I do know that at some point on the stage, I have to drink water and perhaps mimic like an ostrich. It's going to be an incredible experience," she adds. 

The duration for the play is 75 minutes, so a one-act play? You'll know only when the envelope is opened. Until then, keep guessing.