Aditya Roy, with the help of Teamwork Arts India @70, showcases The Offering (Guru Dakshina) at Edinburgh. Roy, from Delhi, trained in multiple forms of martial arts which he pairs with dance to create this unique piece of storytelling.

The story follows a young boy seeking a teacher so he may become like his heroes. An endearing relationship between a boy and his teacher, The Offering brings with it a different way of sharing stories. Working with a musician to create beautiful soundscapes, Roy moves with precision and elegance, using musical instruments to tell the story.

He starts with the calmness and serenity that only a flute can bring and uses every part of the small stage he is given to paint the landscape. We are with him every step of the way, hanging onto every poetic line and description. Roy, as an actor, has great vocal range and an incredibly expressive face. He embodies the teacher and the boy with ease, keeping us gripped at every moment.

Directionally, Roy stretches what we know of theatre, often using the musical instruments as props in his story as well as creating music with them. The flute that he plays intermittently doubles up as a sword and a tree. He intelligently uses the flute within the story, with one of the holes becoming a hole pecked by a woodpecker. It is clear that Roy is confident in his craft – and he should be. Steeped Indian mythology, the story ends triumphantly with the boy becoming the hero he had once looked up to.

The play, in an intimate setting, was staged in too small a room. Roy needed space in which to dance and move and fight, and the small black box theatre didn’t allow him that. I hope that this exciting piece of theatre has the opportunity to move into a bigger venue where it can be fully realised.

Something that caught me off guard was the way in which Roy encouraged us to go to other shows as well as his own. In fact he asked if there were any other performers in the audience and allowed them to market their own shows. Roy offers this piece, The Offering to his own teacher. It all comes around full circle.

The Offering (Guru Dakshina) played at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.