There are some committed and resourceful stage directors in the Capital who are doing theatre as a full time vocation depending on the box office receipts at a time when production cost of a play has increased manifold. They also train aspiring actors and feature them in new productions. Amar Sah of Bala Theatre Karwaan is one of these directors whose productions are frequently seen. His latest production is “Mareeze-e-Ishq” which he directed for his group and presented at Shri Ram Centre recently to a near capacity hall. As the title suggests, the play is a light-hearted farce created through the confrontation between god and men. Though Sah's theatre is popular for entertaining the audience, he has staged serious plays like Mahasweta Devi's “Dayan”, “Adhe Adhure” by Mohan Rakesh and Jean-Paul Sartre's “Men Without Shadows”.
“Mareez-e-Ishq” is written by Lucknow-based playwright Kamta Nath. It is said that his play about Phoolan Devi earned him popularity but the theatre world of the Capital knows little about his work.
His “Mareez-e-Ishq” takes the audience from the world of living men on earth to heaven inhabited by god and those mortals who have done pious deeds and served humanity and after their demise taken straight to heaven. In fact, in the past we have seen similar type of comedy plays that illustrate seemingly all-powerful god vulnerable while confronting humans.
In their vulnerability, they become an object of ridicule. In some cases they become just a spectator to the sufferings of men when they are expected to liberate humanity from the cruelty of a heartless world.
Clever opening
“Mareez-e-Ishq” has a clever opening. All the comic acts take place in the heaven. We meet Shyam, a young man, in love with Chhaya, flabbergasted, standing in the midst of a beautiful and happy men and women who have assembled to welcome him as a new member of heaven. He has some straight from earth after his death. Unable to suffer the pang of unrequited love, he has committed suicide.
Brahma rewards him the most elevated place of heaven for his sincerity in love. He meets in the heaven all legendary lovers of the past.
Brahma ensures him that in the heaven everything will be in his service to be in the blissful mood. Most beautiful heavenly dancers will be available to entertain him. Far from being happy, Shyam becomes sad, rejects all heavenly comforts.
He demands Chhaya to be brought to him. But Brahma blatantly refuses to accept his demand.
Shyam resorts to hunger strike. Gradually, his demand is supported by the inhabitants of the heaven and his agitation gathers momentum. Brahma refuses to accept his demand. As the confrontation between Shyam and Brahma becomes tense, the narrative moves forward. We watch chain of actions which keep us in good humour.
The action unfolds on a bare stage with a bench in the centre stage which is used for the lover to keep on waiting for his sweetheart. The wait is so long that the lover falls asleep and lost in the world of dream – sweet, bitter, grotesque and nightmarish.
The director has cast a large number of performers with a chorus who rendered songs in a jovial tone. The acting lacked in vitality and the accent is marked by flaws. The production needs adequate rehearsals to capture the wit and comic elements. Some performers like Abhijeet as Brahma and Abhishek Kardam as Narad and Farah as Laila, a flirtatious young woman infatuated by Shyam, add comic flavour to the production. The court of Yama exudes comic flavour – these were redeeming features of the production.
