Freak Show

“A puppet may not necessarily be a human or animal figurine. Even the swirl of a sash in the air can convey an expression and hence become a puppet,” said Faizaan Peerzada at the recent theatre-cum-puppet performance at Lahore’s Museum of Puppetry.

The show was unique as it was performed by students of the Punjab University, Beaconhouse National University and Interactive Theatre (Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop) in collaboration with two German puppeteers, Heiki Ikkola and Sabine Koehler. Both the Germans had been hosted by the RPTW to train more than a dozen Pakistani students on the skills of puppetry in theatre.The group of students performed a ‘freak show’ every Sunday at the museum and at the commencement of the workshop came up with a performance of skits that they had devised over the length of the training.

The show was aptly named The Newspaper Man and Other Oddities. Most of the skits focused around mundane situations of life depicted in a humorous way, and paper was crafted into puppets or props. So the same sheet of paper swiftly became a cigarette or a peacock or a snake or even a camera. Objects like a brick, broom or pen were used with sound effects in the background to convey simple themes.Not all performances were immaculate and refined but the students seemed greatly motivated and were generously applauded.

However, one could not comprehend the story behind some of the skits. It would have been better had all the students chosen simpler themes like the one with the fashion photographer who does a lousy job of shooting her model; or the young girl addicted to drugs which eventually finish her off. Skits like these went really well with the audience some of who shared the sentiment that the simpler themes were both well-enacted and well-received.This should be considered by the students when performing in future as all professional puppeteers coming from abroad in Rafi Peer festivals make it a point to use simple and easy-to-understand ideas.

The better performed skits were placed towards the end of the show. An impressive one was the duel between two paper puppets with an actual fireball. The two puppets were handled with great skill by half-a-dozen students each making the movements of the puppets. But the audience were wowed by the ‘pyro puppetry’ sequence in the end when a huge eight-foot puppet made of paper on iron bars was lit with fire and made to dance on Nusrat Fateh Ali’s qawwali. It was a sight to behold! This act was handled by the German pros themselves since it required skill and caution.

The RPTW also took the opportunity to announce its new windows in the museum which included background props for puppets from around the world. One appreciated the amount of effort put into making the windows aesthetically pleasing.For instance the Uzbek puppets have now been given sandcastles in the background complete with turrets and domes, and the Rajasthani puppets have been given the darbar ‘putli ghar’ look. At a time when all else seems to be ruled by chaos, art initiatives such as these must be commended, especially when they involve originality and endeavour.

This article was published in Images, Dawn on Oct 26, 2008

The hand that rocks the cradle…

Who has more right over the land — the owner who possesses the deed or the tiller who makes it fertile with his sweat and toil? The question has confounded answer-seekers for centuries.Raising this very issue, Ajoka Theatre recently performed the play Chaak Chakkar at the Alhamra Arts Complex in Lahore with assistance from the Lahore Arts Council.

Chaak Chakkar delved into the question of owner-versus-keeper in a thought-provoking, humorous manner. Adapted by Shahid Nadeem from the famous German playwright Bertolt Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle written in 1944, the play was typical of Ajoka’s adaptation-based performances.Taking its cue from the Pakistani context of the downtrodden masses, exploitative elite and a weak judiciary, the original play (that had been taken by Brecht from a 14th century Chinese legend) provided Ajoka the perfect story for our times.

The story of Chaak Chakkar revolves around a corrupt subedar who rules his sultanate ineffectively. He and his wife, the subedarni, are only concerned about their wealth, gardens, protocol and their infant son who is the heir to the throne.Ultimately, palace intrigues led by the subedar’s rotund, corrupt brother result in a bloody coup which sees the subedar’s decapitated head hanging at the city’s gates. The subedarni flees the palace and amid all the panic and anxiety to take her 19 trunks of clothes, jewellery and silver, leaves her infant son behind!

A peasant girl, Raano, working for the subedarni finds herself in an awkward situation as she has to decide to save the wailing infant from the clutches of the merciless soldiers thereby putting her own life at risk, or to run to a safer place and wait for her fiancé (played by Nirvaan Nadeem); the handsome soldier who is to return from war and marry her.Raano chooses the more perilous option of the two, putting her own life and future in jeopardy. What ensues is a captivating cat-and-mouse game as she escapes several times from the soldiers looking for her, disregarding her own comfort in feeding and caring for the child. She braves extremely difficult circumstances and in order to save the baby boy, proclaims him as her own, not caring for the disgrace it brings to her name. Hania Cheema did a commendable job in playing Raano and was applauded generously each time she managed to escape the murderous soldiers.

Meanwhile, the boy grows up, the war ends and her fiancé returns but finds everything changed. The subedarni is back too to claim her child. The scene changes to the rogue-turned-comedian who is installed as the new judge for the sultanate in a strange twist of events. That the judge is deposed, beaten into a pulp and then reinstated was another jibe at judicial happenings in the country. Acted brilliantly by Usman Zia, the judge had the audience in stitches with his crisp timing and expressions. Witty comments such as “pehle munsif badmashi karte thay, ab badmash munsif bane ga” had everyone in the audience cracking up.The judge sits on the big book of constitution while giving arbitrary verdicts and settling two cases in one hearing. His suo-motu actions were hilarious and made him the last hope of the oppressed masses that still look up to him despite knowing he has his fair share of flaws.

Raano refuses to give up the child she has started loving as her own. The hot-tempered, ill-mannered subedarni moves the court and the new judge has to decide who gets the child. The case is riveting, funny and captivating till the verdict is announced.High on the entertainment factor, the musical play also featured a guest appearance by Uzra Butt who plays the grandmother called dadi maan, and moves the court for one of her disputes. The 92-year-old theatre veteran played the same role a quarter of a century ago when Ajoka had launched the play. She and her sister — veteran performer Zohra Sehgal who stayed in India after Partition — are two living legends of theatre in South Asia. Ajoka’s Madeeha Gauhar, while giving the credits, remembered how Uzra in her performance 25 years ago had gotten a fracture yet did not reveal it to anyone during the play’s two-hour performance and acted flawlessly.

Ajoka also brought in an almost entirely new cast for Chaak Chakkar. This was much-needed since of late, Ajoka plays have almost had the same cast playing the main roles. Despite brilliant acting performances, one wished there were new faces on stage. Madeeha also said that Ajoka needed financial assistance as the performance of the plays required funds, though a lot of volunteers have also been working for the theatre company.In times of the current socio-political dismay and the alarming state of insecurity throughout the country, it was notable that the performance did not get the packed audience in Lahore that Ajoka plays usually do. Needless to say, the initiative must be commended and supported. To quote Madeeha Gauhar here, “the show must go on.”

This article was published in Images, Dawn Newspaper on October 19th, 2008.