On Thursday, the sixteenth of February, the students and members of faculty, of the Indian Institute of Management in Indore constituted the audience to a brilliant rendition of celebrated Indian playwright Mahesh Duttani’s “Where There is A Will”, incidentally the writer’s first play. The theatrical production was brought together by Dr.Shweta Kushal, a professor of communication at IIM-Indore, with a carefully chosen cast put through 3 months of rehearsal.

The play is about a harsh and authoritarian man’s attempt to vicariously live through his son and the latter’s struggle to preserve his already battered and oppressed personality. It comes to light after his death, that the father had had a will made which allowed his family a meagre allowance from a trust to which he had dedicated all of his wealth and which was to retain it till his son reached 45 years of age. However, he puts in a clause that permits the executrix, none other than his own mistress; to transfer the holdings to charity should his family fail to follow his instructions as laid out in the will. Overall the play explores the theme of despair resulting from identity crises.

The members of cast were Aditya Nair Satheesan (the father), Sanjana Rao Yarram (the mistress), Sagnik Mukherjee ( the son), Jasmine Kaur (the son’s scheming wife), and Shreya Surana (the protagonist’s widow), spellbinding performers all. In the two hours of enactment, they recreated a vivid story of angst and despair for a captivated audience of over 500 people which amply rewarded them for their toils with a warm and whole-hearted ovation at the culmination.