In the pitch darkness of the Black Box Theatre, with a paper ticket stamped to your palm, you are greeted with the loud, booming voice of a narrator. You hop aboard the metaphorical train the strange voice has introduced, unaware of your route and destination, knowing that this uncertainty is part of the thrill. Dressed in a black shirt and a red scarf around his neck, a performer makes his way to the stage, staring curiously at the shaker in the centre.
The spotlight follows him in anticipation of a musical medley to cut through the silence of the audience, sitting at the edge of their seats. He embraces the shaker with an energetic beat that signals the start of the journey. The drums and bass hop on board to accompany the shaker. Together, they create a vibrant, upbeat, and spirited sound that fastens you to your train seat. Welcome to Strange Station - will they be able to take you on the ride of a lifetime?
The instruments in Strange Station were introduced progressively after the shaker, each adding a new layer and intensifying the sound. The ideating team, Mandolinist Srijith Poosarla (UG’26) and vocalists Sneha Kalyani Baiju (ASP’25) and Sanjana Sridhar Guru (UG’27), credited Agam—a band known for blending Carnatic music with progressive rock—as a key inspiration.
The show unfolded as an energetic blend of musical elements, each set differing as the “musical train” moved through various metaphorical “stations,” offering a variety of sounds.
A mysterious narrator guided the audience through each new segment, setting expectations with announcements in multiple regional languages—Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and English—evoking the ambience of a bustling train station. The combination of vocals, tabla, guitar, drums, and trumpet led to an experimental progression, shifting from a serene tone in the first set to a dynamic sound in the second. The trumpet, in particular, added a vibrant timbre, infusing the room with excitement.
However, the vocalists were often drowned out by the instruments, which became distracting. At times, the performances also felt busy– rather than the fusion being a conversation between instruments from different musical traditions, it felt like they were simply layered over one another. Perhaps this was intentional, as train stations can often feel busy and full of life—the fusion may have been trying to emulate this.
The focus on instrumentals was clear and seemingly intentional. In traditional classical music performances, vocalists usually take centre stage. This production challenged some aspects of this and highlighted instrumentalists and instrumental music. To achieve this, the “fusion” aspect of the instrumentals needed to be truly exceptional, which, unfortunately, was not fully realised. Studio Sicily aimed to blend Italian and Indian musical influences, with the tabla’s resonant textures contrasting with the violin, cello, and piano. Despite this, the music felt predictable, the music relied excessively on familiar fusion patterns, and there was a lack of surprising harmonic or rhythmic shifts, which missed the experimental edge hinted at by the title Strange Station.
“The Winter Night’s Dream”, the second performance, fell short of expectations, relying heavily on the vocals, which were, unfortunately, unremarkable. The vocalists struggled to hit the notes, which, we believe, distracted the audience and took away from the overall experience.
Funk Road stood out for its vibrance, edge, and New York R&B flair, creating a satisfying progression of sound and style that flirted with the energy of rock. The set of this performance was also particularly interesting, featuring a graffiti wall with “Free Gaza” written on it. Here, funk emerged as not only carefree and youthful but also deeply political and passionate, embodying a dynamic fusion of expression and activism.
The set for each performance reflected the origins of the musical sound the performances featured, a labour of love led by Sayona Chachra Pahwa (ASP’25) and her team. Drawing from her experience in theatre and film, Pahwa collaborated with the creative directors of Strange Station, Purujit Banwasi (ASP’25) and Neeraja Srinivasan (ASP’25), and many others to create six unique sets that complemented each musical sequence. Unlike traditional theatre sets tied to specific scenes, these sets aimed to capture a “vibe”—from lively backdrops that reflected the energy of Funk Road to hand-painted, abstract pieces inspired by Kathakali masks for Navarasam. For one performance, red and purple kurtas with ‘No Bargaining, Fixed Price’ was included, which captured the vibe of a street performance in a busy Sarojini Market or Janpath. The team’s commitment to building immersive and functional sets paid off, crafting an environment that elevated the performance without overshadowing the music.
In addition to the work that went into ideating and rehearsing musical pieces, backstage and set design teams tied the performance together with a bow on the top. Prachet Sinha (UG'26) from the sound team described the painstaking process of juggling between Indian and Western sounds, ranging from training and continually communicating with performers to ensuring the perfect balance of instrument volumes and incorporating live audience feedback into their efforts. This allowed the audience to appreciate the unique sounds of each instrument and allowed the sets to reach their full potential to amplify the show's richness. However, the effort put into improving the sound of instruments was not applied to the vocalists. Meticulous attention to detail to adjust the sound for the vocalists would have bridged each performance seamlessly.
With features crucial to enhancing the feel of an artistic performance, the Black Box Theatre served as the ideal setting for Strange Station to be brought to life. Its compactness allowed the performers to play around with the setting of each musical piece, resulting in visuals that tastefully complimented the mood and story of each composition. The performers utilised the limited stage space, usually standing in a V-formation that permitted the audience to notice every artist and their instrument. The confined space may also have restricted movement for performers, perhaps a bigger space could have given Strange Station to create complex formations that could have elevated the performance even more. Despite these constraints, they skillfully adapted, making the most of the intimate setting to draw the audience into their world.
We hope for a second edition of Strange Station, perhaps intertwined with different forms of the performing arts or including new stations that make a deeper usage of various Indian musical instruments to make its magic accessible to the wider Ashokan community.
(Edited by Giya Sood and Srijana Siri)
why is this article so mean and nitpicky? the space was not confined, the vocalists didn't struggle to hit the notes, the audience did not get distracted--- just really really bad reporting. ive seen people fake compliments, but it's truly absurd to be so dishonest and lazy with criticism. do better
The edict should strive for better music commentary that minimizes straight up misinformation and makes more sense in an intra-university context