The ongoing theatre festival at the Arts Council had something really delightful in store for theatre fans in town, and all along during the hour-and-a-half performance on Friday evening, the hall was resonating with peels of laughter. It was the narration of three tales penned by the late Ismet Chughtai, known for her uninhibited style and explicit narration, the kind that would make anybody blush.
However, the performance on Friday was quite a world apart from her characteristic style and the narration of the three stories, Ghoongat, Chirri Ki Dooki and Amar Bail.
This was preceded by a narration of various situations that Ismat Chughtai wrote about. It was most adroitly acted out by Zarqa Naz. Naz’s chaste Urdu and the fluent and effective delivery of her dialogues, combined with the most humorous of similes and metaphors, kept the audience glued to their seats.
All the three stories are laden with Ismet’s pungent sense of humour. By making light work of our inflated egos, our Victorian morality and etiquette, she invites us to discard our overly simplistic views of life and accept life with all its complexities.
Chughtai was known for her indomitable spirit and feminist ideology. Her outspoken and controversial style of writing made her the voice of the unheard.
All three stories are most profoundly—and humorously—projected. Goonghat, narrated by Meesam Naqvi, was most astutely executed. The delivery of Naqvi’s dialogues was highly commendable and he really conveyed Chughtai’s message in the most profound of manner.
Fawwad Khan, who has also most adroitly directed the play, was really good at the narration of Amar Bail. The story revolves around the marriage of a young woman and her not-so-young and the comic situations that are created left the audience going into chuckles. However, hidden behind the profuse laughter and humour are comments which question our social norms.
Same was the case with Nazrul Hassan’s narration of Chirri Ki Duki. It was profusely punctuated with humour. The most noteworthy thing about the presentation was that it made the theatre buffs laugh their sighs out. It is a mighty service to the citizenry considering the air of fear and tension that hangs over the city, something that has turned most of us into neurotics.
Exercises like the one undertaken by the Arts Council in the form of the theatre festival should go a long way in soothing the frayed nerves of our public.