From Chess Board to Stage: The Stalemate

 The questions started spiraling:

 Is this what happens to genius? Does brilliance eventually collapse under its own weight? Is genius basically a permanent stalemate? Writer and Director Nikhil Katara discusses the making of The Stalemate.

What sparked the first idea for this play? How long has it been in the works?

Honestly, the whole thing began because I ended up reading a bizarre chess story. I came across this grandmaster who suddenly shot to fame after defeating a top-ranked player,  and then, mysteriously, started losing to amateurs. And just when you think the story can’t get stranger… he disappeared. Completely.

Nikhil Katara, writer and director of The Stalemate

The part that really got me? His family never even filed a missing person’s complaint. I remember thinking, “Either they know something… or this man was really hard to live with.”

That’s when the questions started spiraling: Is this what happens to genius? Does brilliance eventually collapse under its own weight? Is genius basically a permanent stalemate? One odd chess position turned into an idea I couldn’t shake. Repeatedly the same ideas were showcased even in Lababtut’s ‘The Maniac’ .I read that article in The Observer back in 2012, and the play has been brewing ever since. 

So yes, it took 13 years to reach the stage. Some people take 13 years to do a PhD. I took 13 years to stage The Stalemate.

Can you tell us about the use of Kathak and Kalari in the play? Did you craft the narrative with the dance forms in mind? 

Not at all, the story came first. But somewhere around 2015, when I was on one of my many drafts, I shared it with Ramu Ramanathan. I still have his response saved (like a sacred text). He wrote:

“And finally, how will the production achieve this? … ‘Hordes of black pawns, knights, bishops come into the basement and surround the brick haven. A silhouette of the black monarch can be seen.’”

I remember staring at that line and thinking, Right… either I delete this entire vision… or I actually do something about it.

For a while, I considered removing it. Then I considered removing myself from the room. But eventually the idea began taking shape, what if the chess pieces were real bodies? What if they had rhythm, flourish?

Slowly, one set of pieces began moving like Kalari, the other like Kathak. It wasn’t planned, it just grew, organically, mischievously, until it became too thrilling to let go of.

And then the idea really exploded: What if we replay actual historic grandmaster games… but through dance? A rotating chessboard, Kathak vs Kalari, strategy as choreography, suddenly it all made sense.

The narrative didn’t begin with dance. But the dance insisted on joining the narrative. And honestly, it’s now impossible to imagine the play without it.

Poster of The Stalemate

Q: You seem to have cracked something when it comes to funding partners and invitations to either present or perform. This project is with the support of INT Aditya Birla Centre for Performing Arts. Does this add pressure to make art a certain way? Or is it liberating to have such backing? 

It is impossible to do this without support, one of the reasons I waited so many years was that I was waiting for someone to show interest in this story, I pitch every year, for everything. Some really incredible directors are able to get the large scale funded projects every year, and I have seen their work to understand that stagecraft is the key. Scaling up is hard, and it needs really thought through elements that will do justice to the story. When that comes along, the funding is a consequence and not something you seek. The ideas and their execution, the personnel and their skill are the real questions.

In fact in their own words Priyanka Pathak; the curating director of INTABCPA has said

“INT Aditya Birla Centre for Performing Arts believed in The Stalemate because it reflects the Centre’s vision of supporting rooted yet boldly experimental storytelling. The play takes on an exciting interdisciplinary form, blending the strategy of chess with embodied movement to portray a dysfunctional family.

Directed by Nikhil Katara (The Ink Decoction), whose bold design sensibility shapes the production, the drama unfolds on a rotating chessboard where unspoken secrets and simmering conflicts come to life through a striking physical vocabulary.

Its socially resonant theme expressed through a movement language that feels instinctively Indian, makes The Stalemate a compelling fit for INTABCPA’s commitment to nurturing fresh, boundary-pushing work rooted in our artistic heritage.”

I do have gratitude for some really talented and respected people who put their trust in my vision. 

Q: Tell us about Readings in the Shed. As Librarians ourselves, this is a selfish question for our curiosity. When did it begin? There's a publication out there, what's that about? Tell us everything.

Readings in the Shed began back in 2017, very simply. Himali and I wanted to explore what it meant to performatively read literature  stories, essays, fragments, from all over the world. No sets, no frills. Just the written word and the act of sharing it aloud with a small, intimate audience. It became a kind of creative laboratory for us, a place where we could test impulses, explore tone of classic and contemporary literature, and rediscover our method of storytelling 

And then, of course, Covid happened, and suddenly performing wasn’t an option. But the impulse to create didn’t disappear, so it shifted. We thought, “If we can’t read stories, maybe we should write them.” And that’s exactly what we did. We started putting down our own stories, and eventually we published a book. Both Himali and I have two stories each, and we were lucky enough to have a beautiful foreword by Ramu Ramanathan, who has always been a generous guide in our journey.

Readings in the Shed, in a way, was, and still is, our exploration centre. A space that allowed us to grow, and rediscover the joy of storytelling. It gave us permission to play.

Q: Last question, back to the play. Why should people watch it? What's the promise?

A still from The Stalemate

One of the biggest reasons to watch The Stalemate is the sheer force of the performances. 

This cast is extraordinary. Tushar and Sumona deliver work that is both precise and emotionally devastating, they carry the heart of the play with rare honesty. Shaun brings a grounded sense of purpose, a stillness that cuts deeper than words. Kesav injects the stage with a youthful, restless fire, and Ajinkya moves through the narrative with beautifully calibrated shades of grey, never fully light, never fully dark, always human.

Beyond the actors, what elevates the production is the movement language. Sugandh and Dipika have created choreographies that are far beyond anything I had initially imagined,  Kathak and Kalari meeting on a rotating chessboard, not as decoration but as storytelling. The dancers don’t just perform; they become the pieces, the patterns, the emotional logic of a genius mind in collapse, depicting real grandmaster games played by Vishwanathan Anand, Magnus Carlsen, and Tejas Bakre. One thing I must tell you, Tejas Bakre, also was our chess consultant. He advised us on which games to play and whether we got our chess right. 

And then there is the world of the play itself: the rotating chessboard, the precise spatial dramaturgy, and the intimate unraveling of a fractured, vulnerable, violent genius trying to make sense of himself.

There are a dozen reasons to watch The Stalemate- but perhaps the truest one is this: Everyone involved has poured something deeply human into it.

 Tickets | 29th November

About The Piece: Renu and her brother Karthik, a chess prodigy, have spent years stitching together a fragile peace after escaping the brutality of their father. Silence and survival have become their way of life until news of the man’s sudden death shatters their uneasy balance.

The messenger is Inspector Shashank, whose probing questions dig deeper than they should. What begins as a simple inquiry becomes a psychological duel, as memories claw their way back and secrets long buried rise to the surface. Alongside them are Eklavya, a fiery young boy caught between loyalty and rage, and Ekanth, a legendary grandmaster whose presence carries the weight of wisdom and finality.

In this game of truth and deception, every move shifts the balance of power. Who’s really in control? Who’s playing whom? And, in the end, who will emerge as the grandmaster?

The play’s world unfolds not only through dialogue but also through movement: Kathak embodies the fluidity and poise of the White pieces, while Kalaripayattu reflects the raw force of the Black. Together, they create a visceral stage language where dance, drama, and chess unite

Produced by INT Aditya Birla Centre for Performing Art production (INTABCPA)

Written and directed by Nikhil Katara

Cast: Tushar Pandey, Sumona Chakravarti, Ajinkya Ovhal, Shaun Williams & Kesav Binoy Kiron

Choreography

Kalari

Choreographed by Dipika Pandey

Performers: Malavika Thampi, Akash Hattaraki, Raj Shekhar, Nishashmita, Ievaan Shubhankar, Ronit Ashra, Jimit Thaker

Kathak

Choreographed by Sugandh Lamba

Performers: Parinita Mahendra Pawar, Nidhi Prakash Dedhia, Sunidhi Banerjee, Babusha Jain, Aleena Khan, Gauri Shinde, Sakshi Bodas

An INTABCPA Production

Age Limit: 11+