Moment of reflection: Divided despite being one

The stage play is a social comment on the disharmony among Pakistanis.

ISLAMABAD:

Why are we as a nation so adamant on dividing into factions? And why does no one want to take responsibility for the violence that has seeped into our everyday lives?

These questions form the basis of “Shehr-e-Napursaan” (Abandoned city), the play that was held as part of the ongoing National Drama Festival at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) on Thursday.

The performance depicted the provincial division in Pakistan by directly employing a character from each province. The premise is that a Balochi (Riaz Sagar), Sindhi (Asif Saher), Punjabi (Fariq Notkhani) and Pashtun (Farukh Sahil) each visit a mortuary to identify a body, that could potentially be of their brother’s.

However, all four men state that unfortunately, the corpse is not familiar to them. Each character has a reason to suspect that their brother is deceased that is unique to their provincial political and social state. The most stark one is that of the Balochi’s, who fears his brother has fallen prey to a target killing as he took part in protests against the act and its perpetrators.

An old man, played by Ashraf Sulehri, sits dejected in front of the mortuary room and engages with the men. Sometimes he shows pity while others, he attempts to placate them saying they will indeed be united with their brothers one day.

The old man’s character is an embodiment of the unity of Pakistan, that is confirmed when he claims the unidentified and unclaimed body as his own son. Further, he likens the division in Pakistan on arbitrary matters such as province, gender, as the disintegrating pain he feels in his body.

The play is powerful and moving as actors displayed great command on their provincial dialects and mannerisms while exhibiting emotions that were not over-the-top dramatic, but made an impact through sincerity.

The script is the sturdy backbone of the play and is complex yet does not evade the audience of the point it is trying to make. There is poetic and lyrical quality attached in the words employed as well. AD Baloch has very successfully written and directed a unique play that sets itself apart in the series thus far.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2011.