Will the wait for Waiting for Godot pay off?

NAPA reaches a milestone with its first production in English.

KARACHI:

NAPA’s (National Academy Performing Arts) first production in English is a development that will open up many avenues in theatre, and finding a better way to kick things off than the combination of Samuel Beckett’s words and Zia Moheyeddin’s theatrical genius is unlikely. The details of the play, titled Waiting for Godot, were unveiled at a press conference held at the Napa premises on Tuesday evening.   

Waiting for Godot is about two vagrant men who are waiting in vain for someone or something they call ‘Godot’. They wait endlessly at random places, sometimes near a tree, or on a barren stretch of road, encapsulating a drama woven in their own consciousness. What plays out is a comic wordplay of poetry, dreamscapes and nonsense, which has been interpreted as a solemn outline of mankind’s inexhaustible search for meaning.

The play has previously been performed in Urdu as Insha Ka Intezaar by Tehrik-e-Niswan, and other theatre groups, in both English and Urdu. With Zia Moheyeddin’s genius pulling the strings behind the curtain, coupled with Beckett’s avant-garde dialogues, the expectations from this theatrical tour de force are sky high.

“Zia sahab wanted to reach Beckett’s intentions,” Zain Ahmed, the artistic director of Napa, told The Express Tribune. “It is not an adaptation; it is not a translation, but a very faithful attempt at executing a play that was a turning point in the history of theatre.”



In his director’s note about the play, Moheyeddin states that, “Waiting for Godot is a tragicomedy, and one of the true masterpieces of the 20th century. It doesn’t tell a story, and it doesn’t have a plot that can be summarized in the form of a narrative. This is a play unlike any other that you have ever come across.”

He further adds, “The subject of the play is not Godot, but waiting. The act of waiting is an essential aspect of the human condition. Throughout our lives we always wait for something, and Godot simply represents the object of our waiting. Godot could be an event, a thing or even death.”

Since only a handful of Napa graduates are experienced in performing in English, Moheyeddin has chosen most actors from outside Napa this time around. Ali Junejo is one of those select few. Junejo has previously written, directed and performed in plays under the banner of Dadadali productions, and he feels that being a part of Waiting for Godot has been a pleasant change from his usual routine.

“The sort of stuff that I was working on earlier included a huge amount of personal effort because I, along with my co-director, used to do everything. This time around however, I am at the complete disposal of none other than Zia sahab himself.”

Junejo is excited firstly at the prospect that he’ll be playing Vladimir, a character significant to the history of theatre, and secondly, that he is being directed by Moheyeddin while he does so.

“The sort of training and experience Zia sahab has as a director only makes me more confident [in the faithful adaptation of this play],” says Junejo. “He knows a lot about the background [of the play] and has a very clear picture in mind, but at the same time gives us room to bring in our own flavour. As long as you know what you’re doing, he is not stifling,” says Junejo.

Alongside Junejo, the cast includes Fawad Khan, Faris Khalid, Ameed Riaz and Aaliya Moheyeddin and will be staged at Napa from November 21 till December 8 (Thursdays to Sundays).

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2013.

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