here’s something captivating about theatre. In its entirety, it’s a visceral experience where raw emotions seep into the narrative. With no boundaries between the audience and the actors, viewers can immerse themselves in the scenes, stepping into the shoes of the thespians. The show staged at Alhamra Art Centre last week, Jhoota Sachayi, a production by Ouk Creatives, sought to emulate this invocation of emotion.

A satire, the play revolves around the concepts of jhoot (lie) and sach (truth) — two parts that form a single whole. Are the actors being honest in refusing to acknowledge one while accepting the other? Are they merely masquerading under the form of a fallacy?

The curtains open to reveal a character repairing bicycle tires. Dubbed Puncture, his name reflecting his role in the story, he begins singing a version of Ranjha Ranjha kardi, with lyrics re-imagined to reflect the struggles of the poor labourer. He spends minute after minute patching punctures, the song capturing his plight through comedy. Throughout the story, his primary purpose is to make the audience laugh with his one-liners. Soon, Surat enters the scene, the central theme being that she is neither khubsurat (beautiful) nor badsurat (ugly).

The cast is led by Jhoota Sachayi, whose black-and-white attire symbolises the truth in falsehood and the falsehood in truth. It’s a character that represents a denial of other characters and his penchant for not being honest with himself. Tooti is a tawaif with her gajray and ghungroo. Her story is centred around her desire for love. However, she refuses to accept it because of her occupation. Then there are Tehzeeb, wearing a traditional peach shalwar kamees and a paranda, a neighbourhood girl swooning over the boy protagonist; and Khalwat, in her pitch-black dress. The attire and name of the latter embody her fear of tanhai and her longing for companionship.

The play is intentionally left open to interpretation. This particular stage production is meant to show what theatre can be: engaging performances, tailored costumes that reflect character and scripts rich in world-building.

The women, despite their various personifications, have one thing in common: they all seek to shed their unwanted dark sides through love. This wish doesn’t come true for all of them. Only Tooti catches the main character’s eye.

The narrative begins to come together. Each character grapples with two opposing aspects of their identity: the contrast between beauty and blandness; solitude and sociality.

Other characters, such as Lucha, Khawaja Zara and Tarazuu, appear occasionally to drive the plot forward. A plethora of dramatis personae convolutes the storyline of the 45-minute melodrama.

The curtains inevitably draw to a close as Tooti and Jhoota Sachayi spontaneously start singing Sanu nehr walay pul tay bula kay. In doing so, they both learn to embrace themselves — the bad and the good. Tooti finally allows herself to fall in love with the hero and Jhoota Sachayi admits that his feelings of love-at-first sight for Tooti are genuine, not a lie. Other characters join in, singing along and understanding the importance of confronting both their darker and lighter sides, whether through love or finding their callings in life.

The play is intentionally left open to interpretation. This particular stage production is meant to show what theatre can be: engaging performances, tailored costumes that reflect character and scripts rich in world-building.

As the playwright and director, Uneebullah Khan, said, the show was not only an attempt to revive theatre but also to make it commercially viable through ticketed performances. Unfortunately, theatre appears to be a dying art, with scarce funding and resources. For this production, the actors are rumoured to have received no monetary compensation. Despite these challenges, the team of Ouk Creatives devoted time to the project, demonstrating that theatre still holds potential, even in our digital world.

Meeral Mansoor is a student based in Lahore