Dil-e-Nadan: Play brings to light taboos through satire

Performances of theatre adapted from Neil Simon’s ‘The Last of Red Hot Lovers’ end today.

LAHORE: Dil-e-Nadan, a satirical, comedy play on extramarital affairs and dating culture – topics that are still taboo to discuss in Pakistan – continues to tickle the funny bone at Alhamra Arts Council.

The 90-minute play, which takes queue from Neil Simon’s ‘The Last of Red Hot Lovers’, has been adapted by scriptwriter Jawad Daud in such a way that it makes the audience consistently laugh throughout.

The cast includes famous TV and film actor Omair Rana, Nadia Afghan, who has returned to theatre after nine years, Zainab Ahmed, Mariam Wardah and Rasti Farooq.

The play revolves around a middle-aged, married man Yawar played by Omair, who hits the dreaded middle life crisis and is desperate to fulfil his fantasies and live life to the fullest. He tries dating a couple of women, each of them with their own erratic personalities and moods, and fails miserably.

Dil-e-Nadan focuses on not just the man going through the mid-life crisis but all the women he ends up dating, are portrayed as women of substance, with stories of their own, and they cannot be defined merely by their appearances.

The play also offers satire on social class and cultural identities, since the protagonist is rich but runs a family restaurant in old Lahore, and is very much a part of that culture too. He struggles to not bring that aspect of his personality to the forefront, especially when the women from elite class he is trying to date, are around.

The adaptation, therefore, serves as a breath of fresh air for theatre goers because its producers have not shied away from using any sort of connotations that may be considered socially odd otherwise in the mainstream media.

Speaking about what inspired her to pick up the script, Lahore Amateur Theatre Zealots (LATZ) founder and producer Huma Ijaz said she loved the story because it represented the cultural transition Pakistan was going through.

“We are opening up to the dating culture and still trying to figure out the dynamics associated with it,” she said. The idea of doing a play, she added, came up with the desire to produce good quality theatre in Lahore.

According to Omair, the directorial intent was to be comical but reflective at the same time. “It does have an objective of addressing subjects like middle-life crisis and relationships but we did not want to deviate too far,” he said.

“The play is not specifically directed with a localised message but I believe that if any piece of art does not provoke a feeling then it has not done its job,” he believed. “We also wanted to provoke some sort of questions.”

Omair said the producers tried to carter to all sorts of audiences and theatre lovers, consciously pricing the tickets accordingly.

Script writer Jawad said the play first came to theatres in 1969, when the West had just begun to explore these issues. “Therefore, it is pertinent that after all these years the subject of extramarital affairs should be addressed in today’s Pakistani society as well,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2017.