Y- What Refuses to Fade: A Play of Haunting Memories

Home is a place of comfort and safety for some. But for others, it represents a space filled with haunting memories and overwhelming emotions, memories that trap you within the four walls and do not let you escape. Y- What Refuses to Fade reminds us that the concept of home may not be so simple for everyone. Experiences are individualistic, relationships are complicated, and memories of home can be harrowing and daunting. Drawing from the personal stories of the ensemble, Y explores the other side of home, one which is dark, painful and complicated.

The combination of Physical Theatre and Gibberish, while not unheard of, is not something that the Indian audience is accustomed to. In Y, this combination is cleverly used to express emotions that lose their intensity and meaning when explained through words. Drawing influence from Koodiyattam, a 2000-year old traditional art form from Kerala and the principles of pioneering choreographer Alwin Nikolais, Y is an amalgam of movement, light and sound.

What sets Y apart is the usage of multiple props used to visualise specific scenes across the play. Some of these props, such as the clothes that are scattered across the floor of the stage or the garbage bags which appear during certain scenes, gain meaning only in relation to the actors’ bodies. The slightly slanted mirrors above the stage almost feel like it reflects the scattered and fragmented memories, which have no escape but to reflect on themselves.  The lights reflecting off the mirrors, also used as props through the play, create a play of shadows. The mirrors enhance the agonising feeling of entrapment and loneliness of confrontation with one’s own, often harrowing, thoughts and memories.

Y reflects on memories and resilience, something which often goes unnoticed or even deliberately neglected. Gibberish reaffirms the emotions that are conveyed to the audience through the actor’s body and physicality—filling the gaps and blending throughout the play. With no linear plot line, Y is a series of scenes and visuals finding expression through Physical Theatre and Gibberish, perhaps capturing human emotions better than words could.

Catch Y- What Refuses to Fade live at the 21st edition of the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards on Monday, 23rd March 2026, at 6:00 PM, at the Shri Ram Centre Auditorium, New Delhi.