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Sign of the times

“Akhiyon Waleo” was a biting comment on the socio-political situations in India and Pakistan.



Across the border A scene from the play

In the past week, theatre audiences in Delhi would have seen scores of plays at the ongoing 10th National School of Drama Festival – the Bharat Rang Mahotsav. With about six plays staged every day it was obviously not possible to see all them b ut from what we have seen, one can say that the standard by and large has been mixed ; from some excellent plays to some that should not have never been there at all. More on this after the festival is over.

From across the border

The two plays that we saw from Pakistan were indeed outstanding in some respects. “Akhiyon Waleo” was presented by the Lahore-based Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop that is led by six professionals of the Peer family and is backed well by the staff. Since its inception in 1974, the group apart from its year-round activity, has so far organised 21 international theatre and puppet festivals and participated in major festivals around the world, including NSD’s Bharat Rang Mahotsav.

“Akhiyon Waleo”, written by William Pervaiz and directed by Imraan Peerzada, is a simple satire with typical characters built around a common situation in both the countries.

The play is set in a small town or a village street where some boulders on the road have become a public hazard, yet no one wants to help remove the stones. With the elections round the corner, the stones become a political issue. The politicians, religious fanatics and even the political activists are all worked up and want to take over. But when it actually comes to starting action no one comes forward and but is unwilling to allow the other groups to do the task. A fight breaks out amongst the various groups, but the stones remain where they were. The play is a biting comment on the socio-political situations as often seen in India and Pakistan.

The cast on the whole performed well and the situations were a powerful comment on the life around us.