Amrika Chalo: Satire leads the way

Ajoka’s new play comments on the Pak-US relationship.

LAHORE:

One of the most creative ways to make a statement about a certain sensitive or serious issue, without raising too many eyebrows, is to rely on the age-old literary technique of satire. And that’s exactly what Ajoka did with its new play “Amrika Chalo — Destination USA”.

The play, which mocks the love-hate relationship between Pakistan and the US, is Ajoka’s first play after rifts with senior Ajoka artists who recently parted ways to start their own theatrical group. However, the departure of these veteran stage actors was barely felt as the new play more than lived up to the audience’s expectations.

The set, which displayed images of different American icons including Michael Jackson and Angelina Jolie made quite an impact on the packed hall. Directed by Madeeha Gauhar and written by Shahid Nadeem, the play was staged at the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) in Islamabad on December 28.

Correctly depicting the incongruity between the public’s hate for US policies and its relative fascination of the US lifestyle, the play raised several interesting questions especially those regarding the contradictory nature of American policies towards military interventions, drone attacks and its definition of liberty, freedom and morality.

Set at the visa section of the US embassy, where a number of applicants for the US visa have gathered for interviews, the play starts off with the song “Chalo Chalo America” which has been composed primarily for the play. The visa seekers include a businessman, a probable illegal immigrant, a student, a puppeteer, a politician, a maulvi and the aged parents of a Pakistani-American resident. Each one of the visa seekers has a completely different reason for visiting the land of opportunity, ranging from seeking refuge, pursuing an academic career to even selling samosas.

During the visa processing, a US official named Raymond who is in charge of the security comes into the limelight. Although Raymond isn’t overtly dubbed homosexual, his tendencies are evident from the special attention he pays to the male applicants.

One of the most interesting situations in the play takes place when a US embassy visa counsellor tells the eight visa seekers that only four of them will get the US visa as the quota set for the day has been reached.

Strangely enough, a little while later, suicide bombers raid the embassy and take all the embassy officials as well as the visa seekers hostage. The billboard outside the embassy quickly changes from ‘Welcome to America’ to ‘Welcome to Waziristan’.

After successful negotiations with the US official, the matter is finally settled when the demands of the terrorists are met. The demands include processing visa for the four wives and 37 children of the commander of the terrorist group.

The performance of Raymond, portrayed by Furqan Majeed, as well as that of the puppeteer played by Suhail Tariq were commendable. Additionally, Ahmer Khan played the maulvi very well.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2011.