New York City used to have factories and it used to have farms. A few leftover factories, the Queens County Farm Museum, and the occasional community garden are all that remain of either in the post-industrial landscape.

“No, not satya-graha,” whispered one of them, rolling her eyes again. “Satya-agraha!” The handful of adult students from the American Sanskrit Institute in New Jersey were having a visibly great time, even though Philip Glass mispronounced the name of his own opera.

“Killing? I thought it was renovation,” says Ben, an SUV-driving pop artist. He is a character in “Revolt of the Castrati,” a new play by Edwin Lynch.