Death. It’s hanging around deserted back stages. It’s haunting the darkened wings. It’s raising its evil head in mysterious corridors and shock circuiting flashbacks, It’s almost as if death has embraced not just the performers but also the innocent audiences of theatre.

Leading the onslaught in this yet to be declared Monsoon is the Torn Curtains’ Production of “Murder Me Always”. To involve unsuspecting audiences of the Secunderabad Club, this supper theatre whodunit on the 14th of July, 2012 promises food, wine and the thrill of being a Sherlock Holmes for an evening of high decibel drama.

A few days later, on the 4th of August, Ingenium Dramatics steps onto Centre Stage with their rendition of Checkmate.

Since the venue, the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, like many other theatres, does not allow the service of liquor, the evening is almost dry. That by itself is a reason for the audiences of Hyderabad to think of killing the organisers.

Why couldn’t they plan a venue that is liquor friendly. And beverages sponsors are not too difficult to get, say the audiences. But sometimes the organisers won’t listen to what doesn’t suit them.

And how did all this start? This mystery in the making that is keeping the City Police on their toes (No that’s not a Chinese form of torture). How did murder and killing become the thematic norm for theatre lovers in Hyderabad.

Some psychologists feel that it is because of a serious guilt complex where the citizenry believes that killing off the Nizam or at least the Nizami system is their unforgivable fault, that they seem to be taking vicarious pleasure in watching death from close up.

The Police do not seem to accept, leave alone agree with this theory, And have proclaimed with the utmost confidence that the murder movement is a continuation of the non-violent Independence Movement which claimed victims like Mahatma Gandhi. And remind us on every occasion that the mere name Gandhi made fools of the entire nation.

And so it goes on.

Why even an Alyque Padamsee is fascinated by the death of a salesman and seems obsessed with getting his pound of flesh when he takes on Mohammed Ali Baig and a couple of veteran Hyderabadi actors on the 15th at the Novotel HICC.

Yes. Suddenly everyone seems to be discovering a darker side to fairly popular scripts. Internationally Batman has taken the lead while the local hero Shaktimaan who is yet to discover his bright side is floundering in the dark ahead of his new journey.

So actors, directors, producers, ushers, back stagers and audience members watch out. Your very own Hyderabad is turning into the Killing Fields of Asia.

You can either join the movement…or kill it