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instep
analysis
The show must go on..and it did!
The World Performing Arts Festival defiantly celebrated the best
of music, puppetry, film, dance and theatre, despite the all too
real looming shadow of bomb threats, a tangle of red tape and wary
sponsors
By Nadia
Akram and Hassan Bilal Malik
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In one of
his rare light moments, the philosopher K. Marx made a crack about
the weapons of criticism having no strength to combat the criticism
of weapons. What he meant, I think, is that weapons overpower
ideas whenever the two clash. He added an important caveat to
this, however, when he said ideas can be weapons in themselves.
The recent World Performing Arts Festival 2008, organized by the
Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop, was an example of what happens when
ideas carry more force than weapons. Some group or the other employed
scare tactics against the organizers and participants of the Festival
on the night of Saturday, November 22, by setting off three bombs
(later reported to be firecrackers) in the vicinity the venue.
The bombers, however, flubbed it. As is usual with those who attempt
criticism by weapons, they failed to pinpoint the demarcating
line between exuberance and excess. They probably thought they
were attacking 'a Bad Thing'.
The Festival was, however, a Good Thing all the way through. It
managed to be a Good Thing despite security fears and low attendance
on the part of audiences. The Festival 08 may not have been the
most successful in terms of sheer numbers of people or the kind
of acts performing but it is has been one of the most memorable
where success in the face of all odds is concerned.
The World Performing Arts Festival is a one of a kind event in
Pakistan - maybe even the entire subcontinent. Nowhere else do
artists and performers from all over the world come together in
a ten-day long celebration of differences and similarities in
lives and cultures through theatre, puppet-shows, art, musical
performances and much more. The WPAF has been the first real stage
for professional stand up comedians in Pakistan, the only arena
for musicians from the all over the world to perform for a truly
appreciative Pakistani audience and possibly one of the most important
events every year when it comes to bringing together the diverse
social and economic belts of the country.
The WPAF has enjoyed twenty-five years of success, thanks mainly
to the efforts of one big happy Peerzada family.
The first time I met Tassneem Peerzada and Faizan Peerzada was
in the Media Cell at Alhamra Hall and what immediately struck
me was how busy they must have been and yet still made time to
talk about the various aspects of their work, of Faizan's work
with puppets (and his collection of over 2500 puppets) and what
they were hoping for with the Festival 2008.
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"We
have had no backing this time," they said (not in unison of course),
"Sponsors were wary and the government has literally created
a stranglehold of red tape that completely chokes up any creative
attempts on a national scale." (That would have been utterly
creepy in unison.) Disheartened? Certainly.
But not entirely discouraged. In a seriously ballsy move given the
security situation and the bad press Pakistan gets at the international
level the Peerzadas went ahead anyway and had an entire Festival just
to celebrate their own cojones. Power to the people! Not for nothing
is the Peerzada name synonymous with the artsy side of Pakistani life.
And I mean that in the best way. With bombs falling like turtles from
eagle claws in major cities up north, international investment dropping
pretty much the same way and the media painting our sun-burnt brown
to a morbid black the world over, it takes a certain level of commitment
to ones philosophy to host an international performing festival. It's
like putting up a giant buzzing neon sign in the heart of Lahore signalling
'Here! Bomb us! We've got goras! And girls in jeans!' to the aforementioned
men with turtles. And certainly this year round the turnout was much
less than the previous years - even I noticed that and I make a point
to not notice anything in public that is below eye level. And still,
people from all over the world showed up. Troupes from Austria, the
Netherlands, Iran, India, Afghanistan, the Czech Republic, the UK
and so on ventured bravely forth (I feel the need to mention these
countries as a way of saluting them for not being ponces about the
whole Pakistan terror thing) and put on shows that will be remembered
for a long time to come by the few who saw them.
With at least half of the performers from India, many addressed in
their performances the issues of Pakistani society. The comedienne
Shazia Mirza, focusing on the more sexual aspects of life, joked about
hormonal fanatics, "horny clerics" and the sexually challenged
Lahori male. Audiences lapped it up! The other stand-up act, Azhar
Usman from the United States, amiably pointed out small yet hilarious
quirks and hypocrisies in Pakistani culture. Another act from the
UK (Portrait Productions) made explicit the fact that Dickens would
be as disgusted by the brutalities of Pakistani society as he had
been by those of Victorian England. Many acts from India, the theater
troupes especially, put on both serious and comedic performances about
life in India/Pakistan, as we know it today while at the same time
keeping it extremely real and illuminating.
Shazia Mirza and Azhar Usman created a sensation at the Festival.
The stand up comic acts were incredibly well attended and Shazia Mirza
caused many a reaction, especially with the auntie crowd. "Don't
expose the sex!" was what Shazia Mirza was told before her show
at the World Performing Arts Festival. And this is exactly what she
went ahead and did, as part of her three-day run at the Festival this
year. |
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With regards to the strict instructions given to her to not "expose
the sex", she wonders what further exposure she could possibly
give to a topic that everyone thinks about and no one talks about.
One noticed that the majority of the audience laughing at the sex
jokes were women, especially 'aunties'. You gotta love the aunties.
Shazia Mirza agreed: "I noticed most of the ones walking out
were women, but they were being led by the hand by a man. They seemed
to be enjoying the sex jokes," she said.
We stalked her for almost two days, trying to ascertain her take on
Pakistani society and whether she experienced what is lazily called
'culture shock' during her trip. Her answers were surprising. Pakistani
society "has moved on" from what her parents' generation
thinks it was. It is far freer than what they remembered from their
time here in the Sixties. In many ways people here are far ahead of
their cousins in the UK. She does not, however, think this is true
of society as a whole.
However, if most of her act had been toned down for her first-ever
appearance in Pakistan, what did she leave out? According to her constant
companion and general factotum, Martin Twomey, she mocks audiences
much more openly in Britain. She once took a grocery bag from a man
in a London club and, on the basis of the contents, deduced he was
a "repressed gay man living with his mother." She picked
on the audience to a lesser extent while here, only mocking those
who came in late ("Hello! You've missed all the sex jokes."
"Hi, the gay section's over there!" "Are you looking
for your boyfriend?"). I was the butt of one of these jokes:
to be fair, I was wearing a bright orange sweatshirt. She did like
my hair, though.
And hair was definitely something that caught Shazia Mirza's eye.
"A laser hair removal clinic on every corner?" she asked
incredulously during her act. "We have no chapatti, but at least
my legs are smooth!" What she noticed most about Lahore was the
way the priorities of the upper class are upside down. While she didn't
make many jokes about the inequality prevalent here, she did notice
during her routine the silent consensus about politics in Pakistan.
"The Pakistani man's dream: to kill your wife and become President,"
she quipped. That got a reaction.
As in previous Festivals, each night saw multiple shows running simultaneously
in several camps and halls throughout the Alhamra Cultural Complex.
The main event each night centered on music being played in the open-air
theatre by a variety of national and international performers. Due
to security fears, attendance was lower than in previous years, though
Rock Night, with Ali Azmat headlining, managed to pull a more-than-decent
crowd. And performer Farhad Humayoun (of Overload), and his mother,
educationist Naved Shahzad agree about the spirit of the event and
its attendees. Naved said, "I attend the World Performing Arts
nearly every year and this year we have had packed halls during Abida
Parveen or Overload's performances. It's really a people's mela where
everybody can afford to come irrespective of their age, class and
economic condition. Rafi Peer has opened up the window into the world
of arts and turned the cultural atmosphere around. They should be
given a gold medal for the kid of work they do. They are not worried
and are not scared at all. The bomb blasts that happened a night before
the closing ceremony were an encroachment on private lives of the
people. But, gladly it had a counter effect as people attended the
closing ceremony with zeal and proved that they can't live their life
in fear. I am so proud of the Peerzada family and the people who supported
them for this festival." |
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Farhad was all encouragement, "There was so much security, but
such a stupid thing couldn't be taken care of. We have to blame someone
and so I blame the government. Festivals like these give happiness
to people but now it's like a crime to be happy in Pakistan. There
were families there so they could have a good time and what else can
they do? Sit at home? It isn't even safe at home. It's encouraging
that Rafi Peer went on with the show, besides the blasts. They were
getting bomb threats way before the festival but they still went on
and this goes to show how credible the festival is. There were people
from India, Scandinavia, England and other places. The governor was
around and the government doesn't have surveillance to review this?
It's a sad state of affairs."
Interestingly, the performances by Shazia Mirza and Chicago-born American-Desi
comedian Azhar Usman gathered some of the largest crowds of any performance,
with the possible exception of Nawab Sahib Qibla. A Peerzada production,
Nawab Sahib Qibla starred an accountant who advises the self-indulgent
Nawab to get a real job in order to support his luxurious, indolent
lifestyle. There were but four actors who yet did such a tremendous
job it was impossible to actually see the actor; all that the audience
witnessed was a Nawab, his scheming manservant and the savvy but simple
girl-servant. The play is a strong, explicit satire of the feudal
mindset and lifestyle and was one of the strongest draws at the Festival.
While not explicitly given a theme, each Festival, by virtue of the
nature of its performances, gives off a certain atmosphere. This year,
despite the general climate of insecurity permeating Lahore, was a
friendlier, more personal event as groups from all over the world
converged on Lahore. Tight security around the Festival did not impede
the flow of people into and out of the event (though better parking
could have been arranged) and the relative safety of the event itself
meant that performers and audiences mingled quite freely inside the
Complex. An example of this occurred when a bearded gentleman, wearing
Sindhi cap, waistcoat, and shalwar kurta, came up to the comedian
Azhar Usman and thanked him for his performance. Similar appreciation
was shown to Shazia Mirza by uncles, aunties, and pretty young things
and in equal measure to the members of the Iranian puppet troupe.
Interaction between first-time performers and their audiences, as
well as the surprising availability and 'there-ness' of the organizers,
created a more personal atmosphere than in previous Festivals: a happy
consequence of the security fears that surrounded the Festival.
I was wowed by the performances given by the two stand-up comedians,
the Dickens company from the UK (consisting of a sole actor performing
a pastiche of Dickens' work), the Austrian dance troupe Editta Braun,
and Ekjute Theater's "Naatiks". Lone actors, with only props
and audience participation to guide them, performed all of these,
with the sole exception of the Eritta Braun Company.
In typical German fashion, the Editta Braun dancers concentrated on
the anomie felt by modern man in relation to his perpetual "race
against time". While confusing, the audience could not help but
feel it was being shown avant-garde theatre, and thus sat stolidly
throughout the performance. |
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The attendees of the Ekjute Theater plays showed far greater appreciation.
This company, a dramatic troupe from across the border, centered
in Mumbai, managed to wow audiences on both nights. I attended a
performance about a man slowly going insane under the dual pressures
of work and love, compounded by the fact that the woman he was smitten
with was his boss' sole daughter. Eventually, his destination is
a padded cell and electro-shock therapy. While this sounds like
a recipe for slapstick (of which there was surprisingly little this
year), the arc of the story went from amusing to tragic very quickly.
The actor, alone on stage, created a convincing window into the
life of a lowly clerk at an office, and portrayed his obsessions
with such accuracy and attention to detail that the lack of props
ceased to be a handicap.
All you had to do was sit back and imagine it. The fact that the
play (or naatik) was in Hindi-ised Urdu meant that the audience
could imagine it happening to any ordinary man on the street. People
falling in love above their station are a staple of the Bollywood
catalogue, and have been from the beginning, but the intensity of
the actor's performance lent credibility to this much-abused premise.
The clerk's life quickly moves from distant admiration to stalking,
then to delusions of grandeur via the spirit of Gandhi telling him
he is King of Nepal (who went missing during the events shown in
the play), thence quickly to mental breakdown. The denouement of
the Naatik saw our protagonist lamenting his fate in a sanatorium,
very much in the vein of Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's
Nest. Here, however, there was no merciful death to provide an exit
for this character from his troubles.
Similar issues, of inequality and madness, were addressed in the
play by the Dickens troupe, Portrait Productions. After reading
and acting out certain passages from Nicholas Nickleby, the Pickwick
Papers, etc., the actor, again alone on stage, underscored the similarities
between hypocritical, repressed Victorian society and its seedy
underbelly, and society in Pakistan today. In a dream sequence modeled
on the haunting of Scrooge by Marley's ghost in A Christmas Carol,
the Ghost of Dickens takes the actor on a trip around the world,
pointing out labor slavery in Africa and child labour in Pakistan.
The hour-long production ended with a subtle wake-up call to the
audience: Dickens' ghost lamenting the fact that, despite his exposure
of such practices in his day, nothing much had changed in the intervening
150 years. Dickens' world was, it seemed, closer to home than one
had expected.
This then, was the theme of the twenty fifth World Performing Arts
Festival, as far as one could see. The concatenation of a tense
national security situation, an apathetic public, and Pakistan's
exposure to the wider world and its problems led to a unique Festival.
Art cannot, it seems, be divorced from reality.
And Rafay Alam, academic and lawyer, highlighted the uniqueness
of this year's Festival and Lahore's response to it best: "Rafi
Peer's World Performing Arts Festival was a test to see if the city
of Lahore would respond. And they did. I myself went to the festival.
I try to go every year but this year it was very important to attend
because we couldn't let the festival collapse. Even though the festival
had no advertising or sponsorship backing it - because of the economic
situation - the fact that the Peerzada family went ahead and did
the show was remarkable. After the blasts, the festival went ahead
and people still showed up. That is your answer to Talibanization."
This is how Talibanization needs to be tackled. And the powers that
be and corporations who back out of sponsoring such events should
realize that despite all threats and security concerns, the mantra
that "the show must go on" is indeed in the best interests
of Pakistan.
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