My first Play

Until 8.17 pm, today was just another Saturday.
On our way to lunch me and my pal were discussing the events scheduled for tonight in our campus. There was the usual Saturday movie at the OAT, "choreo nite" and a play. Before tonight the only other play I had been to was a monologue about Gandhian principles delivered by an actor who spent most of his stage time touting his distant relationship with the Gandhi family. I hoped tonight's play would actually be a play and decided to hazard a visit to the CLT at 7.30.
At 7.35 pm I found myself sitting in a hall which can accommodate more than 300, with only 2 others. The play had already begun and there were only three people in the audience! Even by IIT's standards that was an unacceptably low turnout. There were actually more actors than people in the audience! Despite the fact that I was a little late and didn't really follow what was going on, I decided to stay partly out of politeness, partly out of a sense of representing my institute in the audience but mostly because they had the whole setup ready. In a typical Indian village milieu they had a domicile with a mattress, a book shelf and just outside the door a coffee shop. The actors' indifference to the lack of audience was surprising and the fact that they hadn't canceled the play even more so. But, I stayed and I watched them act.
Suddenly as if from the middle of nowhere, when I was texting my friend asking him to come to the play, the coffee shop vendor came to me and offered me an empty glass of tea. He said "take it, it is free!" while I was sitting there painfully aware that I was the cynosure of all eyes. The play was held in abeyance as I pretended to drink tea from the empty glass tumbler forced upon me by an actor who kept saying "it is free!".
Finally, after he seemed convinced that I had my tea, he moved on and the play resumed. Over the next 10 mins, I was discombobulated with what had just happened. Was this a part of the play? Or had they given up because nobody showed up and were trying out new things? And to add to all this, a guy in the audience suddenly stood up and started pointing at one of the actors. Soon after, he and that actor left the auditorium.
The play lasted for another 10 mins. My friend had convinced me that the poor turnout could be attributed to the fact that simultaneously there was a movie playing and there was the annual event, choreo nite. Nevertheless, the two of us remaining in the audience applauded when the actors bowed and exited the dais. Then the third guy in the audience got up and started conversing with the actors. He was commenting and judging their performance. Then it occurred to me - I was the only person in the audience, and that was not the biggest surprise. I rushed back to my hostel and looked at the notice board. The play was scheduled for Sunday at 7.30. What I had just witnessed was a rehearsal !