The grand stage production Tesseract – The Geometry of Truth, presented by The Times of India, brings together dance, theatre and immersive storytelling in a visually rich performance. Riya Bafna has curated outfits that help shape the show’s emotional and psychological landscape. For her, every costume functions as a narrative tool, ensuring that what appears on stage instantly communicates character, mood and movement to the audience.Designing for theatre meant translating the story into a prominent visual form. She says, “I designed around 50-60 costumes in the last two months. Designing the costumes for Tesseract was an exercise in capturing something so surreal yet rooted deeply in reality. In theatre, clothing is meant to amplify the storytelling.”The design process began with a deep dive into the script and discussions with the director to understand the tone of the production and the arc of each dance. Rather than treating costumes as isolated design pieces, Riya approached them as part of a larger narrative language. “The goal was to construct a visual vocabulary that could move with the narrative,” she explains. Silhouettes, textures and colour palettes were carefully mapped against the characters’ journeys, reflecting how they move through the story and how their emotional states evolve from scene to scene. Research formed the backbone of the design process. “I explored references ranging from historical clothing to cinematic costume design, while also imagining a space between the real and the surreal, a realm that aligns with the layered storytelling of Tesseract. The production moves across different emotional registers, and each scene carries its own atmosphere. The costumes had to mirror these shifting moods while maintaining visual continuity,” she explains. While each scene needed a distinct identity, the costumes also had to function within the overall visual composition of the stage. “Colour placement was carefully considered so that each scene maintained balance while transitioning smoothly into the next. On stage, the costumes are never viewed in isolation. They function as part of a larger visual composition that shapes the audience’s sensory experience,” Riya says. For Riya, costume design ultimately moves beyond the realm of fashion. “In theatre, clothing becomes an active participant in storytelling. With costume design, the garments begin to speak and construct the world that we ask the audience to step into,” she says.Tesseract – The Geometry of Truth will be showcased at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai, from March 16 to 22
