Of Lyari violence, patriarchy and child sex abuse

As a variety of theatre genres have been included in the Karachi Theatre Festival 2020, the play staged on Wednesday was a tragicomedy, titled ‘Investigation Cell’. It was written by Kulsoom Aftab, who also acted in the play.

The entire play takes place in a single setting -- an investigation cell led by a ruthless and sadist man, played by Faraz Ali, interrogating three people and trying to make them confess to their crimes that are not explicitly mentioned.

The three suspects in the cell, whose names are not revealed, include a man from Lyari, played by Vajdaan Shah, who insists that he is United States president Barack Obama, a burqa-clad conservative woman, played by Aasiya Alam, and a female writer, played by Aftab, who seems to represent a value system entirely opposite to that of the conservative woman.

As the play proceeds, it tries to bring to light several social menaces through the confessions of the three suspects who are products of their society and seem to have a limited role of their own in who they really are.

Things get interesting once the cell summons the subconscious selves of the three suspects to provide testimony against their supposed crimes. Of the three subconscious selves, the one of the female writer turns out to be a little girl who seems to be unnecessarily afraid of everyone around her. It is later hinted that the girl was molested in childhood, causing a lifelong trauma for the female writer partly because of the reactions of her family after the incident.

Meanwhile, the character showing the subconscious self of the conservative woman turns out to be a man, showing how the upbringing under patriarchal values of society causes women to feel and think like men. It also turns out that the woman who had been put in many invisible chains throughout her life was idolising her father because he was a free man.

Regarding ‘Obama’, it is revealed that after witnessing horrific violence in Lyari, the man tried to cut off himself from his roots as he was convinced that no good could come out of an area infested with bloodshed. It was due to this that he started denying his association with Lyari and rather imagined himself as Obama.

With everyone acting brilliantly, the play captivated the attention of the audience. However, its dealing with multiple themes at a time such as Lyari violence, patriarchy, child sex abuse and conservative mindset seemed to be a little too much.

It also seemed obvious that the character of the female writer was the mouthpiece of the playwright, who was also enacting the same role.

A background voice also removed ambiguity surrounding the cell by declaring that the purpose of the investigation cell was to create confusion so that people could not be aware of their identities. Although this announcement helped understand the message of the play, it somewhat closed the doors of other interpretations of what the symbol of the investigation cell meant.

Though the play turned out to be a tragedy in the end, many dialogues, such as those between the conservative woman and female writer, became a source of laughter throughout the play. Overall, it was a worthy endeavour.