The stage is set for the unveiling of one of the world’s most beautiful monuments, the Taj Mahal. Its construction was shrouded in secrecy as the emperor Shah Jahan did not want the world to see it before its formal unveiling. And through the years of its building, rumours surrounding its construction were rife. Two low-level imperial guards, who are also friends, are assigned to watch over the Taj, before its grand reveal.
Guards at the Taj, Rasa Theatre Collective’s third production, explores concepts of friendship and loyalty, beauty and duty, and the dynamics of power through the perspectives of these guards.
Written by Pulitzer-nominated American playwright Rajiv Joseph, the play premiered at The Atlantic Theatre in New York in 2015. The highly nuanced play, while examining the friendship between the two guards, also showcases the politics of power — how even those in the lowest rung of social order are affected by the decisions of the rulers of the land.
