Prison production: All the world’s a stage, literally

Karachi will witness its first-ever ‘prison production’ – a play by inmates of Central Jail.

KARACHI:

Curiously enough, it was the case of a prison chief and a prisoner finding common ground – love for literature.

It all began in one of the dark cells of Karachi’s Central Jail, where SSP (Prisons) Kazi Nazeer sat down with Mansoor Mujahid for a tête–à–tête on Waiting for Godot. “A couple of months back, I and Kazi sahib were discussing how the play wasn’t well received until it was performed in prison,” Mujahid told The Express Tribune.

There are about 5,250 prisoners in the Central Jail. Their crimes and allegations vary from being masterminds of terrorist activities to professional and amateur targeted killers, from rapists to petty thieves. Some of them are paying the price for doing injustice to society while others are awaiting justice.

But four months from now, they will not be punished for breaking the law but by a director for not being able to do ‘justice’ to their characters.

Karachi will witness the first-ever play in the history of the jail that has housed some of Pakistan’s most-wanted criminals.

“The purpose is to do art for art’s sake and provide an outlet for the prisoners to get out of their barracks and vent their frustrations,” explained Mujahid. His command over literature and storytelling skills impressed SSP Kazi. “Having someone with that talent sitting idly in the jail is a waste of skill and genius,” he said.

Kazi was encouraging Mujahid to do something of this sort since he was imprisoned, but the former filmmaker had not adjusted to his life in a cell. For him at the time, putting together a film crew or a theatre group in jail was nothing short of a joke.

However, Kazi has always been an avid supporter of artistic activities in the prison he is in charge of. With pride he talks about the Fine Arts section of the prison where inmates are being taught to paint and some of their work has also been displayed at Alliance Française de Karachi.

But more than painting, it is his love for literature that makes this unusual project very exciting – primarily because of his MA in English literature, which he had completed before entering the Civil Service of Pakistan.

“As I am a literature student, I love discussing tragedies and comedies as any other literature buff,” Kazi told The Express Tribune. It has been over a week since the idea of putting up a play has been circulated in the Central Jail and the response has been overwhelming. “Everyone wants to be a part of it right now but I know that only a handful would actually be interested in it,” said Mujahid. “With prison comes a lot of monitoring and that is going to be the main obstacle.”

In addition, getting different inmates from different barracks at one particular time will be a difficult task because, apart from the security concerns, the dates of case proceedings of the inmates/actors will also have to be kept in mind. Rehearsals will have to be set according to when all are available and not produced in court for their hearings.

Nevertheless, the barrack-to-barrack lookout for interested – and talented – inmates has already begun and posters with the application details have also been dispersed.

Despite all the logistical and security issues, SSP Kazi is confident that the task can be achieved inside the jail’s premises – given that Mujahid does not slack off. “It can definitely be made possible and we’ll make sure that the prisoners-turned-artists get the time and attention they need within the jail monitoring regulations.”

Samuell Beckett’s Waiting for Godot might have been where the idea was conceived and inspired from, but it is not the play they plan to perform. Both Kazi and Mujahid are divided between Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo and 12 Angry Men by Reginald Rose.

The former is being considered for its social commentary and comedy, but the more likely option seems to be 12 Angry Men, which is a courtroom drama and something more relatable for the actors, director and crew.

Kazi disagrees with the claims of some inmates – who have read the play or watched the film – that 12 Angry Men might be too subtle. “I found it very pertinent to the prison’s environment and it won’t be a difficult to understand for the inmates because interpreting the subtext is a basic human exercise that we undergo every other day,” said Kazi profoundly and pensively.

But now more than Kazi, the project relies on Mujahid, the director of the play, because from the casting of inmates to their training, everything is on his shoulders.

The most important task is the translation of the script from English to Urdu, but Mujhaid is confident that everything will be done in-house. “You are putting up a play for prisoners at Central Jail, not at the Arts Council,” smirked Mujahid. “It has to be translated in prison slang or what I’d rather call bazaari language. And I know enough inmates who’d be able to help me with the translation.”

Both the SSP and Mujahid are looking at this venture as a long-term investment. They believe that if the prisoners (at least the ones with shorter sentences) can go out with a basic acting skill, then they would have an additional bread-winning option.

The play is slated to be staged four months from now and there are fair chances that it might be staged on July 2, which will also mark Mujahid’s one year in prison.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16^th, 2014.