The Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop’s World Performing Arts Festival was an eventful fare this year. It was the theatre company’s 25th festival, it was held without a sponsor in trying times of terrorist threats and recession and three explosions took place during the festival, too.
Having experienced the first explosion, I must say I have also joined the increasing league of unfortunate Pakistanis experiencing terror firsthand. Thank God there were no casualties or serious damage. But more on the blasts later.
The festival was a pleasant montage of all kinds of performing arts and some of the performances were thoroughly enjoyable. On the fifth day, the Rifco Arts from the UK presented the hour-long comedy It Ain’t All Bollywood about a girl obsessed with the artificial world of Hindi films. She is eventually brought out of her self imposed exile by her childhood Irish friend who recognises her on his frequent trips to her house as the courier guy. A beautiful story, simple and aesthetic props, brilliant acting and humour made the play fun to watch.
The first of Abbas Jutt’s solo nautanki performance was scheduled in the Punjabi Cultural Complex’s auditorium on the night of the folk music concert. It was ironic that a talented singer like Abbas was scheduled to perform in the same time slot as folk artistes like Saeein Zahoor and Arif Lohar, but in a separate auditorium where only a handful of people came to hear him. The organisers should have accommodated him in the folk concert which would have given him a bigger audience. Abbas’s renditions of the folk tales of Sohni Mahiwal and Sassi Punhu in traditional Punjabi style were sonorous yet ill-placed before a nearly empty auditorium.
The Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Foundation from Hyderabad Deccan in India performed Raat Phoolon Ki, an unscripted 70-minute act of poetry, music and dance. Qadir Ali Baig was a poet and a lover of the performing arts, and many of his poems became songs for the Indias Hindi film industry. The play was produced by Begum Razia Qadir Ali Baig, directed by Mohammad Ali Baig and the poetry was recited by well-known actor Arif Zakaria. The combination dance was derived from various Indian classical genres and it was choreographed and performed by Dr. Alekhya Punjla and her troupe. The beautiful fusion music to which the dances were performed was composed by the famous santoor player Rahul Sharma.
The Aakar Puppet Theatre from India delivered a fabulous performance in the name of Dhola Maro. It was a Rajasthani folk legend of a princess and her beloved prince who comes to marry her defying all odds including a spell-casting envious witch, a horned monster and a huge python.The props were an exquisite representation of the rich and colourful Rajasthani culture and the puppeteers handled the string marionettes very skillfully. In one of the scenes, a single puppeteer balanced the prince holding the princess on a dancing camel. Other scenes like the puppets breathing, juggling a ball and doing a peacock dance completely won the audience over. Children loved the hour-long performance and many ran to the stage after the show to check out the puppets up close.The Ariel Theatre from Bulgaria performed Clever Peter for young children. The story was based on the Bulgarian folk tale of an adventurous, trickster peasant called Peter who goes about helping the poor and wriggles out of difficult situations by using his wits. The technique used was hand puppetry and the two puppeteers did an okay job as they fumbled with the English at times.
The Hungry Heart Festival (India) performed As The Sun Sets. It was a story of a family coming to terms with the family’s patriarch Viraj dying of cancer in old age.The play explored human feelings beautifully as in the end the daughter realises her mother’s worth. The play had some really good acting by Prabha Tonk (wife),Anjali (aunt) and Danish Iqbal (servant).
A day prior to the closing of the festival, the National School of Drama, India, presented Azizun. It was captivating play set in the 1857 period of Kanpur. The play revolved around a courtesan called Azizun who is in love with Shamsuddin, a soldier with the East India Company. Shamsuddin decides to join the rebellion and when his frequent comings to the house of Azizun get noticed by the Company officers, she decides to join the rebels and her house is used for the secret revolt movement.The play was simply enchanting as the sets were put up on three sides of the camp making the audience feel as though they were sitting in a 3-D theatre. The script was a mix of pristine Urdu and bits of Hindi. Soul-stirring dialogues such as when Shamsuddin convinced other soldiers to join his revolt against the Company and said: “Tumhain khud mein aur khuda mein faisla karna hoga” were a treat to hear. The stage was set at different elevations hence Azizun’s house was actually a two-storied building. Another platform with stairs positioned behind the audience was used effectively for the revolt scenes.During the small length of time in which I managed to watch the performance, it felt like I was transported to another world. The music, the subtle and graceful dance and the language was magical. The play unfortunately could not conclude due to the explosions even though the actors brilliantly carried on through the earlier disruptive fireworks at the match in the nearby Qaddafi Stadium.
The Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop’s Come Back To The Coffee House One More Time Rafi Peer was also staged the same day. It was about Rafi Peer and the fact that he was far ahead of his time and believed in empowering people to be change agents themselves through the use of performing arts. The dialogue was a mix of Urdu, Punjabi and English, and set in different time periods. Rafi Peer’s ideology was narrated by the characters who themselves are trying to understand the depth of his thoughts long after he has departed the world.Directed by Salmaan Peerzada, the play made an ingenious use of props and there was attention to detail as when the coffee house setting was created there was the faint clink of real cups and silver in the backstage to bring in the real touch. Though some of the audiences found the play difficult to understand, according to Tasneem Peerzada (press director), the play was a new technique for the Pakistani audience who have not been exposed to its subtlety.
As we left the final performance and walked on the pavilion round the open-air theatre, the first explosion took place. It was definitely not a firecracker this time. But we knew it was a low-intensity bomb as the sound was not loud enough. As we stood with our back to the theatre, a woman in one of the handicrafts stall before us looked above us at the walls of the theatre and let out a most terrifying scream.
My husband and I turned around to look above us in what seemed like a moment cast in eternity as we thought there was a bomber right above our heads waiting to explode his explosives-laden jacket! But there was only smoke and dust rising and as the woman ran screaming towards the theatre, people panicked and started running towards the exit points. Some RPTW staffers got hold of the woman as she fainted and it transpired that her young son was in the theatre for the concert. What was commendable was the calm that the RPTW staff showed in treating the lady. A worker announced that the sound was that of a gas cylinder exploding, perhaps in a bid to pacify the panicking crowd.
As we left the premises unhurried, the scene outside had changed to scores of ambulances, a news coverage van, and police contingents moving into action. The second explosion took place when we were leaving the Qaddafi Stadium’s exit gate and it had been a good 20 minutes since the first one took place. Later, it saddened me to know that three people were injured, not due to of the explosions but in the panicky stampede that ensued.
This article was published in Images, Dawn Newspaper on November 30, 2008
1 comment:
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