In 1986, Theatre Group staged an unusual production of an adaptation of German playwright Franz Xaver Kroetz’s wordless play, ‘Request Concert’, featuring Smita Patil and directed by Alyque Padamsee. Adapted to an Indian setting and titled ‘Aap Ki Farmaish’, the play portrayed the humdrum existence of an ordinary middle-class woman.

The entire piece had no spoken dialogue, with the script consisting of a detailed sequence of actions and stage directions. Through the woman’s everyday routine, the play explored themes of loneliness, isolation and the monotony of daily life.

Of the production, Smita Patil said, “I honestly had the guts to take up this play because it is totally experimental theatre.”

She also remarked, “To me it didn’t feel like theatre; it was the problem I was attracted to. In the play, I’m just communicating.”

Patil felt the play belonged to the pavements: “It’s not meant for a normal audience. It should be performed as a street play.”

However, it went on to be performed in experimental theatre spaces.