Staying true to its tradition of staging plays on topical issues, Ajoka’s latest production at Lahore’s Alhamra was about basant.
Written by Shahid Mehmood Nadeem, more in the manner of a polemical exchange between various set of characters, Lo Phir Basant Aayee brought out tensions embedded in our society -- with basant becoming a symbolic reference to a whole lot of divergent points of view that have gone into the unruffled mix that Pakistani society has become.
Directed by Madeeha Gauhar, its main plot, ensconced in many episodic scenes, revolved around the character of Maujo who belonged to a family of traditional kite-makers in the city of Lahore. With the prohibition of kite flying, he had been rendered jobless and without any source of income. Since he had only made kites all his life, he was not equipped, particularly in the later part of his life, to change his profession -- and with it his way of life.
For him, making kites was not only his profession but his passion. He was seen to treat kites with the same degree of love and affection as he would a living person. He was reduced to reliving the glorious days that he had seen as a kite-maker and was seen lamenting the demise of a festival and tradition that gave so much pleasure to the people and colour to the city of Lahore.
All the more reason to lament, this was one festival that was celebrated by the entire city on the streets with people from all shades participating in it. It cut across class and communities. It was a people’s festival.
Now that Maujo had lost his ability to earn and run the household, the pressure to sell his property and move out of the Walled City increased. He focused on the tragic dilemma of leaving a productive phase of his life for one that would only be filled with regret and remorse. He was surrounded by all sorts of people -- the younger generation in the family more immersed in the sanguine energy of youth, the neighbourhood with women quarrelling endlessly; adding a flavour of the culture of the Walled City, and the debates verging on violence about to engulf Maujo’s disintegrating household.
The main character of Maujo was played by Arshad Durrani.
In the days when Alhamra was only a small hall that could accommodate about a 150 people in a crumbling old structure, Arshad Durrani performed many roles under various directors. They were the founding fathers of theatre in the newly-independent country. He also made appearances on television in its early days, like many others who carried on from the radio, to stage to the small screen.
Others in the cast were mostly younger in age, like Nayab Faiza, Usman Raj and Sohail Tariq, and that harboured well as new blood was introduced by Ajoka theatre.
It also appears that Ajoka’s productions have gone back to the format of the street theatre. It may be said in the same breath that most of Ajoka’s productions have a very strong undercurrent which flows from the fountainhead of street theatre. It has a history and is probably in no condition to distance itself from the course from which it has meandered through in the last 30 years since its first production Jaloos.
For once, Ajoka did not have live music; rather the popular numbers composed round basant and kite flying played in the background made the production a little remote. Whatever the quality of live music, it is still preferred over recorded music, for it adds warmth to the production while the piped background score leaves one cold due to its absolute predictability.
The set was realistic -- the façade of a house, its rooftop with enough open space in front to be used for the multiple purposes, a courtyard, a classroom, a street and lover’s rendezvous.
Pakistan in many ways is a unique country because it feeds on problems and conflicts. And as if there is a shortage of issues and problems, the one on basant has been exaggerated to sound more like some gory rite of slitting throats than a festival that celebrates the onset of spring.
Over decades, heavy weather has been made of this festival. While the present political dispensation has spent billions on holding youth festivals, as it recognises for once the importance of staging such events for the youth to keep them engaged and also to realise its talents, some of the festivals which have been part of our tradition have been shelved, or narrowed down in scale and importance for reasons that would baffle any sane person.