ACP festival ventures into theatre of the absurd with ‘Insha Ka Intezar’

After two offerings by the Ajoka Theatre, the Pakistan Theatre Festival 2023 on Wednesday featured a play by another prominent theatre group of the country — Tehrik-e-Niswan.

The play, titled ‘Insha Ka Intezar’ was Anwer Jafri’s adaptation of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, which is widely considered as a masterpiece of the theatre of the absurd, a drama movement that began in Europe after the World War II which did away with structured plots and focused on pessimism and existential crisis faced by the people against the backdrop of the devastation of the war.

Whereas Beckett’s play had no female characters, in his adaptation, Jafri replaced some male characters of the play with females. The cast included Naina Black, Haris Khan, Mujtaba Zaidi and Asiya Alam.

The Pakistan Theatre Festival is under way at the Arts Council of Pakistan. (ACP). According to a statement issued by the ACP, ‘Insha Ka Intezar’ dealt with the current circumstances of Pakistan and where the country was heading towards. The two main characters, Karmoo and Zuleikha, face existential questions and ponder whether they need to seek pardon from those they had oppressed.