Lucknow: Play ‘The Lesson’ was staged on the last day of a three-day theatre festival organised by Shraddha Manav Sewa Kalyan Samiti and culture department, New Delhi, at International Buddhist Research Centre on Friday.Written by noted French playwright Eugene Ionesco in 1950, the play was adapted in Hindi by Shraddha Bose and directed by Tushar Bajpayi. Actor Anil Rastogi was the chief guest on the occasion.The production held the audience’s attention by bringing alive the disturbing world of power, fear and submission.The story centres on three characters, a professor, a student pursuing a doctorate in mathematics and the professor’s maid. The student arrives at the professor’s house for tuition. As the class progresses, the professor’s questions become increasingly strange and impossible to answer. It leads to a confrontation that ends with the professor killing the student. The maid reveals that this happens every time a student comes for a lesson. The doorbell rings again. Another student arrives, suggesting that the horrifying cycle is set to continue.


