Arts Council theatre festival concludes on a hilarious note

The16-day Sindh Theatre Festival 2018, sponsored jointly by the Arts Council and the Sindh Culture Department, concluded on Sunday evening with a really hilarious play, “Aise Hi Chalta Hai” (that’s the way it is). The play left the audience giggling profusely, so full of humour and witticisms was it.

It is supposed to be a satire on the bureaucratic procedures that are a hallmark of our official scenario, never mind even if a life has to be lost. It was a profound reflection of the trivialities of our offices scenario which often takes precedence over human welfare and pressing human predicaments.

The play opens with a scene in the front yard of the Governor’s House with an uprooted tree and a man being crushed under its weight. He pleads to passers-by to rescue him and disentangle him from the weight of the jumblum tree.

The first person who comes that way hesitates to attempt to free him for fear of getting into any legal complications with the law enforcers. Then comes a clerk of the Governor’s House staff, but he, too, instead of making attempts to rescue him, indulges in a comical conversation with the person who’s already there. Then there comes a head clerk, Allahbachayo Chandio, who indulges in an irrelevant conversation and calls for a resort to bureaucratic procedures while the man groaning under the weight of the tree is in a desperate state.

The most hilarious are the telephone calls from Chandio to the secretary, culture, and later it turns out that one of the calls has been misdirected to the agriculture secretary. This comedy of errors really sent the audiences into chuckles.

The plots continue to unravel and there appear television crews and others to interview not only the officials but also the man who is groaning towards his inevitable end under the crushing weight of the tree. Finally, the man under the tree breathes his last while all the bureaucratic haggling is going on.

All the cast members did a wonderful job and infused real life and vivacity into the play. Special mention here has to be made of Faraz Chottani as Allabachayo Chaandio, who makes the whole thing really comical with his typically vernacular and provincial intonation and accent.

Kudos also to Raheel who, as the man under the fallen tree, really reflects the helplessness of a person heading towards his end in the face of irrelevant exchanges among the officialdom. Arts Council President Ahmed Shah lauded the holding of the festival and said that the number of plays had been increased from 18 to 36 (two showings of the same play daily) because, he said, they felt that the maximum number of citizens should avail of the opportunity to view the activity. Sindh Culture Secretary Akbar Leghari, in his address, lauded the efforts of the Arts Council and their mission to make entertainment available to the common citizens.