PNCA stages play ‘Jungle Mungle’

Islamabad

Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) stage play ‘Jungle Mungle’ came to an end Wednesday night after three consecutive performances from February 14 to 16.

Scripted by Dr. Fouzia Farooq, ‘Jungle Mungle’ may be elementary in some aspects but the there is lot in the substance and this ranges from peace and harmony to ecology, pollution, deforestation and disrupting the natural balance. All this has been played by children, adolescents, men and women. The backdrop obviously as the title suggests is jungle. It sure took lot of time and effort by PNCA Art Department to bring that scenery on the stage. The different well-placed slides of nature on screen enhanced the ambiance and gave another dimension to the setting.

All this is narrated by children and adults disguised as animal and birds - some of them good and some of them not so good. The head of this empire could not be anyone but the lion king. But the dark irony is that like many other heads, he is pretty much powerless (and helpless). When the crisis comes, the lion king is kicked out of his empire, along with his cronies. It is time for vicious elephant to blow his trumpet. Evil takes over and it raises hell. The elephant would imprison the good ones by dumping them in a hole (which we don't see. The elephant may even go to the length of roasting the rabbit. And then rabbit’s wife would turn theatrical by singing, dancing and crying her heart out with Noorjahan's hit number ‘Izhar bhi mushkil hai.’ That was the fun part and audiences roared into laughter. Asif Shah as monkey got the top grade. Like all good things in life, things are settled and the villain (elephant) is punished, brought to justice and forgiven (and perhaps forgotten).

This was ‘Jungle Mungle’ with clear message of good winning over evil and keeping the balance in nature  without disruption, maintaining  peace and equilibrium were other lessons taught over  in little over one hour.

The props of animal and birds looked good.

Scriptwriter Dr. Fouzia Farooq thanked Jamal Shah, director general of PNCA and his staff for making ‘Jungle Mungle’ a total success. The children (and their parents) in the audiences enjoyed all what was happening in the jungle.

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