THE PLAY
A Satire Sharp
Enough to Draw Blood
As Bees in Honey Drown is a fast-paced, wickedly funny satire on contemporary culture — on our society's insatiable obsession with fame, glamour, and the good life. It promises to tickle your funny bone while exploring themes of deceit, betrayal, artistic ambition, and the power of illusion.
The story follows Dhruv, an almost-famous young writer, and Alexa — a dazzling, larger-than-life socialite who has made the world of celebrity her personal playground. Claiming to be a music producer, Alexa sweeps Dhruv into her orbit, promising to make him the next great phenomenon if he'll write the screenplay of her glamorous life.
What unfolds is a deliciously dark comedy of seduction, manipulation, and self-invention. Set in an age that most often chooses image over substance, it exposes the desperate hunger for recognition that makes so many of us willing to drown in honey.
PRODUCTION DETAILS
Douglas Carter Beane
WRITTEN BY
Akarsh Khurana
ADAPTED BY
Anahita Uberoi
DIRECTION
Devika Shahani | Dragon Rose Project
PRODUCED BY
Aadyam Theatre | Aditya Birla Group
PRESENTED BY
Dark Comedy | Social Satire
GENRE
English
LANGUAGE
Mumbai | Delhi
VENUES
Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York
LICENSING
A smart and witty representation of the greed for fame, glamour and the good life. Set in an age that most often chooses image over substance.
- AADYAM THEATRE
THE ORIGINAL PLAY
Douglas Carter Beane
THE INDIAN ADAPTATION
Akarsh Khurana's Mumbai
Originally premiering Off-Broadway in 1997, As Bees in Honey Drown ran for 366 performances at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York. Douglas Carter Beane won the Outer Critics Circle Award for his writing, while lead actress J. Smith-Cameron won an Obie Award for her portrayal of Alexa.
The original Alexa — Alexa Vere de Vere — is one of theatre's great comic villains: a con artist who captivates the almost-famous, promising them the one thing they most crave.
The phrase "As Bees in Honey Drown" describes a state of complete absorption or surrender to something pleasurable — much like how bees can become so absorbed in honey that they drown in it.
Adapted by Akarsh Khurana, this production relocates the story to contemporary Mumbai — a city that understands, perhaps better than any other, the dangerous allure of celebrity, the elasticity of identity, and the price of reinvention.
Directed by the acclaimed Anahita Uberoi, the production was described as "understated yet eye-catching, with judicious use of video imagery to enhance a moment" — a hallmark of Uberoi's precise, intelligent staging.
The play ran in Mumbai and Delhi as part of Aadyam Theatre Season 6, and returned for a second run at Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir, Bandra — a testament to the audience demand it generated on its first outing.
— DOUGLAS CARTER BEANE
WHAT THE PLAY EXPLORES
Themes
Fame & Illusion
In an age that chooses image over substance, Alexa is the ultimate product of our own creation — a mirror held up to a culture that rewards performance over truth, and sparkle over depth.
Deceit & Manipulation
Alexa doesn't lie so much as she invents. The play asks: where does ambition end and exploitation begin — and why do the almost-famous always say yes?
Artistic Ambition
Dhruv's hunger to be recognised, celebrated, and transformed is utterly human. His story is a comic tragedy about what we're willing to surrender for the promise of becoming somebody.
THE CAST
A Stellar Ensemble
ALEXA
Shikha Talsania
Lead
Aditya Rawal
DHRIV
Lead
Ashwin Mushran
ENSEMBLE
Tavish Bhattacharya
ENSEMBLE
Meher Acharia Dar
ENSEMBLE
Chakori Dwivedi
ENSEMBLE
Zeus Paranjape
ENSEMBLE
Set Design: Devang Manjrekar & Juhie Gupta | Lighting: Gurleen Judge & Arghya Lahiri | Sound & Music: Kaizad Gherda | Makeup & Hair: Anisa Uberoi
PRESS & CRITICAL RESPONSE
What They Said
"
A hilarious and thought-provoking satire on contemporary culture. It promises to tickle your funny bone while exploring themes of deceit, betrayal, artistic ambition, and the power of illusion.
— Aadyam Theatre
"
Uberoi's production is understated yet eye-catching, with judicious use of video imagery to enhance a moment. The five actors who play multiple parts have more fun than the leads.
— Deepa Gahlot, critic
"
Mumbai audiences may enjoy it more than others, because they live with the everyday superficiality of people who are famous for being famous — those who name drop with impunity.
— Deepa Gahlot, critic