Tesseract will make you step into a world beyond time & space: Pia Sutaria and Megan Murray

On a quiet afternoon inside the rehearsal space at Mumbai’s National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), fragments of dialogue echo across the room — intense lines reflecting on truth, time and the unseen dimensions of existence.

Dancers move around a door-like mirror, rehearsing sequences that feel both mysterious and deliberate. Walking in midway through the rehearsal, it’s difficult to fully grasp what is unfolding, but one thing is certain: something intriguing and larger than life is taking shape.At the heart of it all are actors Pia Sutaria and Megan Murray, reflecting on the central idea that anchors the immersive spectacle Tesseract – The Geometry of Truth, brought to audiences by The Times of India.

Blending dance, theatre, music, dialogue and artificial intelligence, the musical encourages audiences to look beyond humanity’s past and contemplate the future it is actively shaping.As Megan and Pia step into this layered, almost otherworldly narrative, both actors find themselves navigating characters that are philosophical yet deeply human. Once rehearsals wrap up, we sit down with them to talk about stepping into the world of Tesseract.

What drew you to a production like Tesseract, which explores the pursuit of truth through such an unusual and immersive narrative?Pia: The one thing that excited me most about Tesseract is that it’s my return to the stage in India after a very long time. When the script was first brought to me, what really struck me was the idea of pursuing the truth — whatever that could mean for anyone. It felt like a very interesting concept. I felt, when fleshed out properly, this would be something that I could really resonate with.Megan: Honestly, what drew me to Tesseract was the concept — the pursuit of truth.

I think everyone is searching for some kind of truth in their life, and that’s what really got me excited about this project. Tesseract will make you step into a world beyond time and space.Tell us about the characters you play and the journeys they go through in this story.Megan: My character Sophia is a woman in pursuit of truth. Even though she meets her alter ego, played by Pia, who understands the worlds better and guides her through them, Sophia remains very intellectual. When the character was first imagined, she was conceived as a professor.

She’s gentle and calm but also very strong. She refuses to settle for a simple explanation. She wants the answers and she’s not going to stop until she gets them.

If I had to compare her to someone who I grew up watching, it would probably be Miss Honey from Matilda. She’s delicate and kind, but there’s a deep strength in her.Pia: I am the alter ego or a version of Sophia — her subconscious. My journey with the character has been really interesting because I’ve been pushed to do something that is slightly more exaggerated and otherworldly, which is very unlike me in real life.

I’ve had to find inspiration from different places. I’ve been watching videos of characters like Genie and even Tinkerbell and trying to draw inspiration from things I grew up watching and loved.Pia, you also direct, dance and run your own theatre company. What was the experience returning to the stage purely as a performer?I think we’re so used to putting on both the student cap and the leader cap. There were moments when I watched the production come together and wanted to step in and say, ‘Oh, we could do this or we could do that.’ But it’s been wonderful because everyone in leadership has been so encouraging and positive.

This is a tough show. The script is complex and we needed a lot of brightness in the rehearsal room. Our directors have really taken our hands and led us along the way.Megan, you’ve worked in theatre before. How different was this production compared to other plays you’ve done?It’s very different. Most theatre I’ve done before is very conversational — very human to human. In Tesseract, the text is poetic and otherworldly. There’s even a long monologue where I’m interacting with the voice of AI. Finding that connection was fascinating because we’re living in times where everything is shifting towards AI. Trying to find the human connection within that is something the play reflects as well.