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Of parables and play

A peek “Aage Badhna Seekho” is directed by Nadeem Khan, a product of Urdu Akademi’s children’s theatre workshop.

For the last two decades Urdu Akademi, Delhi has been annually presenting plays by children prepared in the course of their theatre workshop, which display fine artistry imbued with a social message. Its latest presentation, “Aage Badhna Seekho” this past week at Shri Ram Centre is yet another feather in its cap. The highlight of this production is that it evoked a tremendous response from the audience for its youthful enthusiasm that amuses as well as reveals social disparity. It inspired the audience to march ahead to create a just social order. Written by Anis Azmi while interacting with children in the course of the five-week workshop, the play unfolds like a parable. It has two worlds — the world of stark realty and the world of plenty inhabited by the king and his courtiers. These two worlds form an artistic whole. One of the rewarding aspects of the play is its language based on the observation on children; how they behave, how they talk and how they interact. Though the intent of the play is deep and complex, Anis has conveyed these ideas in children’s language. This made the delivery of the dialogue unaffected and spontaneous. Anis is a well-known theatre personality, who has written several plays for children with remarkable felicity, making children aware of social reality without resorting to slogans.

Directed by Nadeem Khan, a product of Urdu Akademi’s children theatre workshop, Nadeem has been constantly honing his craft as a director of children’s theatre. His efforts brought him praise for productions for children. His handling of “Aage Badhna Seekho” reveal his skill to use space imaginatively, to design realistically the required locales in which action takes place. The important aspect of his directorial art is to mix serious intent with the comic.

The dramatic action takes place in two locales — the impoverished village and the corrupt court of the king. The village scene is realistically treated with comic touches. In the court scene we meet caricatures, revealing their inhuman, ridiculous and cruel traits. The farmers work very hard, on their fields, but remain poor because the king of the land expropriates their yields. They have no will to resist.

However, a young man comes to the village and tells the villagers that his father left this village long ago, and worked in a far away land for a rich man who turned out to be his benefactor. He declares that now it is his duty to educate the illiterate farmers of his ancestor’s village, to make them conscious of their rights. When the news reaches the king, he becomes furious and orders the arrest of the youth. He wants to keep his people in perpetual ignorance.

The confrontation between the educated youth and the brute king is remarkable for its light touch, fun and wit. The young man beats the king at his own game. The oppressed peasants enter the scene to express their solidarity with the youth. Unable to face the angry crowd, the king and his courtiers flee from the court, proving to be paper tigers.

The skilful light effects by Gajander Mani and music score by Santosh Kumar Singh, expressing the inherent message of the play in captivating tunes enrich the production.

The 25 members of the cast give an admirable account of themselves. They act in a spontaneous manner and enjoy themselves while acting out their roles. Aaquib as the aged villager and Priyanka as the aged village woman evoke laughter with their old-age idiosyncrasies. Osama’s caricature of the king is sheer fun to watch. Faheem’s young man is courageous, intelligent, witty and committed to liberate his illiterate villagers from the clutches of the king by equipping them with the power of education.

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