Khel Ek Raat Ka: Mind games and relationships revealed

Play explores the complexities of a relationship between a man and woman.

KARACHI:

Does a relationship evolve through mind games and emotional warfare between the two sexes? Does it get weary when the psychological warfare reaches a point of no-return? What if all of this happens on one cold night, and a performance of this trial leaves you simultaneously engaged and confused?

Khel Ek Raat Ka, a play directed by former National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) student Fawad Khan, explores these very themes of suffering in a relationship.

Based on the Turkish poet and playwright Melih Cevdet Anday’s work, Mikado Games, the two-and-a-half-hour-long Pakistani production spin casts the talented Saqib Khan and illustrious Sanam Saeed in lead roles.



It starts with a man and woman entering the front room of a house on a cold winter night. The woman holds a baby girl in her arms, and has been invited in by the man for she has nowhere to go. Through the actor’s monologues, it becomes apparent that he is a writer and thinker by profession. The woman is shown to be destitute. The actors then begin to tell each other fabricated stories about their lives, finding excuses to make conversation. The play explores common issues present in relationships: infidelity, love, reproach and chastisement.

As the plot unfolds, the audience notices that these two nameless characters share moments of nostalgia and anger in the mind games they play on each other. Each of their lives is bitter and inconsistent, making it clear that their existence is laced with unhappiness. They tell each other lies, building up their personas to impress the other. It is evident that they are starved for love, and are struggling to impress each other.

The strong chemistry between Saqib and Sanam is apparent in their dialogue delivery. PHOTO: PUBLICITY

Fawad, who has directed this play in Urdu for Karachi audiences, says, “I am exploring intimate theatre in which an actor is as vulnerable as the audience.” He adds, “There shouldn’t be a boundary wall between the audience and the actor.”



He explains that the play is a post-modern play based on real and unreal situations around us. “They strike us through lies and deceit, the play builds on and becomes a lot more bizarre.”

The strong chemistry between Saqib and Sanam is apparent in their dialogue delivery. Even though Sanam forgets a line or two, Saqib delivers his performance brilliantly. The dim lighting and cool evening set the perfect theme for theatre lovers.

It is pertinent to mention that Fawad had experimented with intimate theatre in his previous play Khwab Tha Shayad last year, delving on the same male-female relationship.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2013.

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