In matters of the heart, there is no level playing field; the highs are high while the lows can be crippling. The National Academy of Performing Arts’ (Napa) latest production Bandhan picks up on this very reality to present a messy and chaotic production. A grand wedding, lovers (that fate is determined to keep apart) and a bitter family rivalry which transcends generations resulting in bloodshed, are just some of the ingredients of the dramatic offering.

“Loosely inspired” by Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca’s tragedy titled Blood Wedding, and with a title that is self-explanatory, Bandhan falls short on many fronts and lets down Lorca’s play, which was inspired by a crime he had read about in a daily newspaper. First performed in Madrid in March 1933, Blood Wedding was likened by many to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. However, Lorca’s play carried within it a distinct local flavour of the culture of his time, thus setting it apart from the classic and allowing it to carve a niche of its own.

Bandhan, directed by Hassan Raza, though picking up the same thread from Lorca, fails to deliver a meaningful production. His dramatic presentation amply incorporates South Asian cultural and religious traditions and there is a lot of colour in Bandhan, with song and dance, and colourful costumes as found in any South Asian wedding — most of the scenes are about the celebrations of the impending nuptials between Hajra (Hajra Yamin) and Hassan (Hassan Khan). But though Raza aims to maintain an ominous foreshadowing throughout the length of the play, it fails because the script and the writing are mediocre at best.

Napa’s latest stage production Bandhan fails to impress because of a mediocre script and the restricted range of the cast’s male members

Bandhan’s saving grace is that it is not just a tragedy of love lost but also a thinly veiled criticism of societal norms. The relevance of the play in contemporary times cannot be ignored. With family relationships reeking of the concept of honour codes, and with society stifling any form of non-conformity, the repressive familial and social framework seems to have still persisted despite the passage of time.

Hajra is torn between two worlds, one in which she must honour her father and marry the respectable Hassan, and the other where she yearns to be free and be an equal to the fiery and untamed Asad. There is no aligning the two and the play hurtles towards the climax where these two worlds explode.

Women are not the only victims of this honour code; the men suffer equally as their lives are always in harm’s way in this dangerous game of balancing love and honour. However, the male cast of Bandhan severely lets down the production. Both Asad and Hassan are caricatures and their range is restricted when emoting. In fact, none of the male characters in the play, and there are plenty, are successful in creating a lasting impression.

Hajra, however, manages to rein in the conflicting emotions she faces with maturity. One moment on stage she is a bride-to-be as she awaits her groom, while the very next she breaks down in front of the man she once loved, Asad, jeering as well as cajoling him.

It is Shabana Hasan’s characterisation as the mother of the groom that makes the production worth a watch. As seen in previous productions, she always owns the role and embodies it to the extent of it being a sheer joy to watch her perform. In Bandhan too, Shabana convincingly plays the role of the mother who has aged beyond her years, primarily due to the untimely death of her husband, whose loss she still grieves. Her pain, and the fear of losing her son to a similar spate of violence that caused her husband to be murdered by a rival family, can be felt and shared from the time Hasan walks on stage. The audience shares in her fears, and hopes against hope that a similar incident does not befall the family.

Music is also cleverly used to forward the narrative. Nigel Bobby employs a band, and singing, poetry, and dance are ample and help break the monotony of the play. As the setting is a desi wedding, there is a lot of colour thrown in with regards to the costumes and the characters are all dressed up. But they are not indicative of any particular time period, which is another aspect lacking as it seems that the play is being staged in a vacuum.

The themes Bandhan discusses, however, are neither time-sensitive nor culture specific. They were in play during Lorca’s time several decades ago in a completely different part of the world, and they are still in play in our part of the world.

Published in Dawn, ICON, March 4th, 2018