Review: Anatomy of a Suicide

I had the chance to watch Anatomy of a Suicide today.

When the June schedule landed in my inbox at the start of the month, I asked AI to tell me which plays were critically acclaimed and which ones I shouldn't miss. It came back with three non-negotiables, and this one sat right at the top of the list.

I forwarded the summary to two friends. One was traveling, so the other and I settled on a time, confirmed the show closer to the date, and this afternoon we found ourselves at Ranga Shankara.

I had read up on the play beforehand and asked Claude to summarize it for me without spoilers. One line stuck with me: there will be parallel plots running at the same time, so pick one and stay with it, because if you try to follow all of them you'll only get confused. The tip came back to me the moment three plots started playing out at once. I thanked Claude in my head, picked one, and stayed with it. It paid off. I was in step with what was happening on stage, and the whole thing was, to put it simply, mind-blowing.

The emotional maturity of the characters and their relationships was extraordinary. The ease with which they spoke about themselves, with nothing to hide, was an eye-opener. That says something about the writing. The acting had me on the edge of my seat almost immediately. There was humming, singing, dancing, small recognizable behaviors, and I went through all of it with them: happy, sad, exasperated, driven, comforted, inspired, shocked, surprised, the lot.

I thought the three parallel plots were a clever choice, not just as a way to tell the story but as a way to hold your attention. It reminded me of something I picked up while facilitating innovation workshops: give people enough on the table to keep them busy and they actually focus more, because they're less likely to reach for their phones or start talking to the person next to them.

This was in Bangalore, and I don't know when it will be back. I'd strongly recommend it. I'd also suggest you read up before you go.