KARACHI: In a world of ‘fake news’ where credible news outlets have their authenticity questioned, while clearly propagandist outlets are revered as propagating the truth, Dario Fo’s play, Accidental Death of an Anarchist is of contemporary importance. And on Thursday at the National Academy of Performing Arts, a Pashto translation of Fo’s play titled Da Bhagi Marg was presented, directed by Rauf Afridi.

Accidental Death of an Anarchist, which premiered in the 1970s, was inspired by real-life events that involved an anarchist being falsely accused of bombing a bank. Giuseppe Pinelli fell to his death from a Milan police station in 1969. The circumstances of his death remained unclear as to whether it was suicide or murder.

Afridi’s adaptation took the audience to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the victim has been accused of bombing a train and has fallen to his death from a police station. All the characters in Da Bhagi Marg were conversing in Pashto, with the exception of a Punjabi-speaking superintendent.

The first scene charts the exchange between a fraudster and an inspector, constable and a superintendent. The fraudster intercepts a call at the police station and decides to return as a judge investigating the death of the anarchist.

The first 20 minutes of the play were in Pashto, and despite the language barrier for many in the audience, the scenes were executed in such a way that one could comprehend the context and enjoy the witticisms and dramatic comedy of the offering.

Another interesting element was how music was incorporated to bringing a cultural flavour to the production with the use of the rabab.

But on many layers, Da Bhagi Marg was politically incorrect. The initial discovery of Justin Bieber’s photographs found in the drawer of the policeman drew many laughs from the audience. However, this eventually spiralled out of control. Homosexual jokes, initially understated, became blatant as the play progressed, and soon enough bordered on being offensive.

The set also suffered due to mismanagement. Though these can be considered minor issues, yet they became difficult to ignore, especially when the constable entered a door labelled ‘Latrine’ and returned with a cup of tea for the guest.

Did the audience enjoy the play? Definitely. But only after Fo’s internationally acclaimed play had been diluted and mutated beyond repair.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2017