In a pitch-black room, where not even the green glare of an emergency exit sign can be seen, a thunderstorm rages through headphones and directly into the audience’s ears.

That is what people will experience during Aura: A Musical in the Dark, a performance which will take place completely in the minds of its viewers – listeners – who will wear headphones while actors perform in an unseen sound booth nearby.

“We are going for a shared experience as everyone is hearing the same thing, but everyone is seeing a different world,” co-writer and show director Vikesh Godhwani told Times of Malta.

Walking around the show’s venue at Esplora’s Planetarium in Kalkara, Godhwani explained that the entire musical will be presented in complete darkness while every sense outside of sight will be utilised to create the show’s imaginary world, Aura.

Having previously made several iterations of Panto in the Dark, Godhwani said that previous shows have seen audience members be splashed with water or specific aromas set up near them to flesh out the show’s world.

Aura will stray away from panto tropes and focus on more existential and human themes, but the audience will still be transported into an imaginary world without the use of sight.

The entire musical will be presented in complete darkness while every sense outside of sight will be utilised to create the show’s imaginary world, Aura- Director Vikesh Godhwani

“Hopefully, when the lights come back up, the audience will ask themselves, ‘Who am I,’” the director said.

Aura will tell two tales focused on an eight-year-old girl. One revolves around a turbulent moment in her life as she faces some harsh realities while the other will take the young protagonist, Lu, into her own imaginary world.

As things go wrong in the real world, trouble arises in the imaginary one, sending Lu and the audience down a blind sensory rabbit hole.

Sound will not only be played over headphones but environmental effects, such as thunderclaps, will play over the planetarium’s speakers, utilising the space to create a dynamic world.

And, to aid the audience’s imagination, dialogue between characters will be descriptive as lines will identify objects and other key elements.

At the show’s core, Godhwani and co-writer Marta Vella wanted to create a project with its target audience in mind.

“We wanted the very fabric of the show to be catered for the visually impaired,” he said.

As Godhwani spoke, sitting in the planetarium, production staff conducted a light test but, as they dimmed the room’s lighting, the glow of green emergency exit signs persisted.

“We want to achieve a total blackout,” he continued, while staff taped black cardboard over the lights to achieve their goal of completely depriving the audience of their vision.

The cast of Aura rehearsing in their sound booth. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Without giving much away, Godhwani said the idea for the show’s plot began around the time of the pandemic. Seeing the media focus on the number of people affected by COVID, Godhwani’s mind went to a more personal level, thinking about the individual lives rather than the mass scale.

“What is the ripple effect of one of those numbers,” he asked himself. Years later, Aura will attempt to answer that question.

Wales’ first drag queen

Aura will not only centre on inclusivity for the visually impaired but, as a part of EuroPride 2023 celebrations, the Musical in the Dark will also feature LGBTIQ+ representation.

In the play, Lu has two fathers while her imaginary world is populated with creatures who do not conform to stereotypical gender roles, normalising the community without pointing a finger at it.

Meanwhile, the cast and crew also feature members from the community.

“The show really lends itself to its LGBT characters,” actor Jake Sawyers told Times of Malta.

Sawyers was born in Wales with no vision in his right eye and around 15 per cent vision in his left. His disability has not stopped him as, in 2018, the professional actor became Wales’ first drag queen after he moved to Cardiff with his male partner.

Welsh actor Jake Sawyers became the country’s first blind drag queen in 2018. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

“It portrays these characters in such natural and gentle ways, and even though the show is not about those themes, it’s a positive story about a same-sex couple,” Sawyers said.

Emphasising that both of the show’s inclusive themes will connect with everyone, Sawyers said that the show does not feel like it was designed for the visually impaired and neither for its Pride representations, rather the themes organically come out of the artistic work.

“It puts the creativity at heart rather than the accessibility,” he said.

“I am devastated that I can’t listen to it myself,” he added, as he looks forward to creating a world in the minds of the audience.

With music and lyrics by the award-winning Luke Saydon and sound design and musical arrangements by Matteo Depares, Aura: A Musical in the Dark will be performed between September 12 to 15 at Esplora’s Planetarium in Kalkara.

The show will be performed twice a day at 11am and 7pm, each performance lasting around an hour and 15 minutes.

 The show is produced by Teatru Malta in collaboration with EuroPride and Esplora. For tickets, visit Teatrumalta.org.mt or click the link here.