As Mian Biwi Aur Wagah, a theatre production based on letters from the lives of an Indo-Pak couple comes to the city by the sea, its creators reflect on the journey that has taken them from Middle East to India and now Pakistan.
In this technologically advanced time, it is a struggle to remember when we actually picked up a pen and wrote a letter to someone. Emails and cellphones may be a faster medium of communication but they are clearly not capable of conveying feelings in their true sense. The personal touch one used to feel when a letter from a beloved arrived had a very different value attached to it.
And so, it is heartening to find an original Urdu play called Mian Biwi Aur Wagah, based on the dying tradition of letter writing, making its mark internationally among theatre fans.
After performing (and receiving applause) across the Middle East and India (New Delhi), the team behind Mian Biwi Aur Wagah is performing in Karachi.
The play is based on letters from the lives of an Indo-Pak couple (Amna Khaishgi from Pakistan and Ehtesham Shahid from India) who are co-writers of the play. They are playing lead roles in the production and are a couple in real life as well.
Mian Biwi Aur Wagah has been conceptualized by Goonj Productions, a Dubai-based South Asian community theatre group. When the play was staged in Dubai, a large number of Indian and Pakistani theatre enthusiasts gathered to experience a journey enveloped in the exchange of letter-writing across India, Pakistan and beyond.
The play began its international tour earlier this year when it was staged at the prestigious India Habitat Centre in New Delhi.
“At one level, we are surprised with our experimental play’s success in the UAE but at the same time we also realize that it strikes a chord with common folks who have forgotten how to express through the medium of letters,” said Sheherzad Kaleem, the Pakistani co-director of the play, on the strong response the play has received so far.
Sheherzad is a documentary filmmaker and was born and brought up in Karachi. “The positive vibes that we got in India boosted our confidence further. It is remarkable how this entire play, its concept and script have evolved organically and become so successful,” she said.
Director of the play, Dhruti Shah, is a veteran theatre director who is originally from Mumbai, India. She has directed several theatre productions in both India and the UAE in English, Hindi and Marathi languages.
“It is amazing how a creative group of like-minded Pakistani and Indian friends, from diverse professions and backgrounds, came together in Dubai, with nothing except the love of South Asian heritage, culture and languages and ended up creating the first, original, Urdu theatre play of the Middle East,” Dhruti said.
The play focuses on three central characters – a husband-wife duo (Mian Biwi), from Karachi (Pakistan) and Bihar (India), played by Ehtesham Shahid and Amna Khaishgi, who are seen and heard writing letters to their kith and kin from all walks of life, set in different cities, and through a range of varied emotions.
As the couple writes letters and narrates them on stage, there is Wagah, the border that separates the two countries, represented symbolically in human form and played by Mohammad Majid. Wagah’s character is a storyteller who weaves intimate memories, amidst the unity and disparity of both countries.
“In the days of telegraphic communication driven by technology, letter-writing can seem hopelessly outdated,” says Amna Khaishgi. A journalist and documentary filmmaker by trade, Khaishgi was born and brought up in Karachi.
“The writing, receiving and reading of letters will always offer a surreal and heartfelt feeling that modern technology can never attempt to touch. Our play truly touched the hearts of our audience and that is the reason for its success in all the countries we have performed in so far,” she said.
“We realized the power of this human connection during the making of this play and when we presented it on stage. Writing letters to near and dear ones and then reading it out for the audience has been magical. One has to experience it to understand the feeling.”
The play’s cast members include interesting characters from a lost era, such as Daakia (postman), played by Faraz Waqar and Kora Kaghaz, a symbolic representation of blank paper in human form, played by Maha Jamil.
The play was staged yesterday (Wednesday) during National Academy of Performing Arts’ (NAPA) ongoing International Theatre & Music Festival in Karachi.
Another event, scheduled to take place today (Thursday, March 29) at Faraar Gallery, The Second Floor (T2F) in Karachi from 8:00 to 9:30 pm, will feature the team of Mian Biwi Aur Wagah as they share their journey from Dubai to Delhi to Karachi and shed a light on the lost art of letter writing through their play.
The play will also be staged at the Arts Council on Saturday (March 31) at 8:00 pm and twice on Sunday (April 1) at 4:00 pm and later at 8: 00 pm, with tickets priced at 1500 rupees.
– Sadiq Saleem is a Dubai based entertainment journalist. He is also an Instep & Something Haute correspondent and can be contacted on his page fb/sidsaidso.
