KARACHI, Oct 13: Seven outstanding plays by Shahid Nadeem selected and published in book form by Oxford University Press in collaboration with Ajoka Theatre were launched at the Arts Council on Monday.

The seven plays originally written in Urdu and Punjabi have been translated into English by Tahira Naqvi, Khalid Hasan, Naila Azad and Shahid Nadeem himself. All the plays, namely Aik Thee Nani, Bullah, Kala Meda Bhes, Dukhini, Barri, Teesri Dastak and Burqavaganza reflect the social issues present in our society, focusing more on women, hypocrisy and corruption. The treatment of each topic is invariably different but the unusual aspect of these plays is the mix of innovative forms with the popular traditional elements of dance and music.

A large dose of humour which makes it more palatable but at the same time undermines hypocrites has created a lot of controversy over Nadeem’s plays, such as Dukhini which deals with the trafficking of women from Bangladesh to Pakistan, or the recently banned Burqavaganza.

The speakers at the ceremony were OUP managing director Ameena Saiyid, Madeeha Gohar, actor, director Khalid Ahmed, Sheema Kermani, director of Tehrik-e-Niswan and Shahid Nadeem.

In her welcoming address Ameena Saiyid said that Shahid Nadeem was an icon of thespian excellence and a playwright who has written original plays. “All his plays deal with serious social issues but he dresses them well in humour. The consequence of his deep commitment to matters that are contentious is that his plays have generated a storm of controversy. An example is the play Burqavaganza.”

Madeeha Gohar, director, Ajoka Theatre, thanked OUP for giving them the opportunity to present their play Burqavaganza. Previously, they had performed for different organizations in Karachi, but for the last ten years they had not received any invitations. “We wanted to present this play in Karachi. It has been Ajoka’s trend to get original playwrights to write for us. While performing Burqavaganza we decided to present our other two plays Bulha and Hotel Moenjodaro, and all the three themes are related to religious intolerance and fundamentalism.”

Khalid Ahmad and his team read out excerpts from the plays Bulha and Dukhini. He said he preferred to read the excerpts rather than give a speech. The dialogues chosen were very interesting and witty even though the topics focused on a very morbid subject, death. Madeeha Gohar added at the end that Dukhini was performed in collaboration with a Bangladeshi group.

The speech given by Sheema Kermani, director of Tehrik-i-Niswan, was very thought-provoking. She said her association with Ajoka began from 1986 with a dance programme and continues to this day. She added that during a successful performance a bond takes place between the audience and the performers, and this is what the authorities are afraid of and that is why political theatre is so potent.

Sharing his thoughts in the concluding remarks, Shahid Nadeem said he loved to come to Karachi in his younger days to see the beaches and the nightclubs, but something had happened to the city. He was optimistic that it would revive itself. Referring to the plays chosen by Khalid Ahmad, he said both talk about the dead. He added that people are in a hurry to die here and get martyrdom. But when he writes about the dead he gives the positive side as well. “Themes of suffering should not be shied away from, as I try to resurrect the stories of the dead and bring them to life. There are so many forces that stop us from enjoying life. My plays are motivated by political situations. I try to provoke people and I like controversies created by them because it brings dialogue between people, which is better than shooting each other. Burqavaganza has done just that.” He said 25 fruitful years have passed for Ajoka and he looked forward to another 25 challenging and dangerous years.

Earlier, before the programme began, he was asked if he wanted something specific to say. Shahid Nadeem replied that NAPA was doing a good job in theatre, but they needed to show original plays. In their five years of existence they had not invited Ajoka to perform for them once. “We know contemporary and audio, visual techniques that we have learnt from India, Bangladesh and the Philippines, and combining them with our culture, political and traditional heritage we can help theatre as well. The State has been ignoring us, but colleagues who are training young people in acting should get our help,” stated Shahid Nadeem.