When Ranjit Hoskote spoke about “cross-genre writing” some time back, unsuspecting readers had hardly guessed that the Mumbai-based poet and art theorist would soon be presenting a bouquet of three plays — Karna, The Last Annal of Alamgir and Aftermath. This comes barely two weeks after an anthology of Indian poetry, containing his works along with that of 59 others, released in the city.

The three plays, featuring mythological and historical characters, have their central characters going through emotional conflicts in relationships due to destructive and violent situations. The well-known turmoil of Karna, the abandoned son of Kunti, finds fresh expression in the first play. “Since childhood, I was very fascinated with Karna’s story,” says Hoskote, who has been inspired by Sanskrit dramatist Bhasa’s play

Karnabharam (Karna’s Burden). Hoskote, who has at least four

collections of poetry under his belt, has translated the Marathi poet

Vasant Abaji Dahake and co-translated the German novelist and essayist Ilija Trojanow.

The second play explores the emotional struggles that may have plagued the dying Mughal Emperor

Aurangzeb. Hoskote takes “deliberate liberties with history” to show the emperor meditating on his obsession with power and justifying his violence.

Aftermath combines history and mythology with many characters from the previous two plays making appearances in it. “The last one is a study of a shattered world,” the playwright says. He admits the impacts of recent terror strikes in Mumbai finding their way into the final piece.

The production, directed by Avaan Patel, will premiere on January 22 at Chavan Centre Rangaswar. After a four-day run there, it will move to Prithvi Theatre for shows on January 30 and 31. Patel, who runs the theatre group Stage Two, says, “We always try to stage original scripts.” However, she seems to have taken a two-year break after directing Meher Pestonji’s Piano for Sale. The 38-year-old makes up by not only directing these three plays but also by acting in two of them.

When Patel read Hoskote’s Karna a year back, and The Last Annal of Alamgir after that, she could almost visualise the production. “However,

Aftermath joined the two plays only recently with its dream-like quality and unspecified future setting,” she says. Patel, the daughter of artist-poet-playwright Gieve Patel, assures that each play has a different mood though their basis remains the exploration of various human relationships.