Catch a Chain (7th -8th August 2010) ***

B Production Presentation in Collaboration with Elysium Entertainment


Written by: Omair Farooq Nazir & Syed Ijlal Naqvi

Directed by: Waleed Zaidi & Sanwal Tariq

It’s not very often that you get to see an original script being staged (and I am excluding the Punjabi plays) in Lahore. For some reason the creative expression on stage is restricted to existing either Broadway hits or classic literature. Recently Lahore has seen its youth taking bolder steps, first with a recent Urdu play and now ‘Catch a Chain’.

A two act play written and directed entirely by these boys gets my points for effort. The story revolves around three inmates who are later joined by a fourth. Throughout the play the story of these inmates gradually unravels. While at the same time the abusive jailers (who by the way were female jailers in a male prison?) manhandle the prisoners, subjecting them to both verbal and physical abuse.

The aim of the play was portray “how different people react to change while in confinement, and how the system controlling them (prison/prisoners), chooses to deal with the influx of new criminals into already over flowing jails”. (Quoted from the brochure) Now here is my problem with the story line, the story of the prisoners unraveled smoothly but the purpose and the ending of the play wasn’t clear.

I am all for alternate theatre and creative expression, but in my opinion if the story was based on local prisons it would have held more weightage and would not of come off as a version of Green Mile/Shaw Shank Redemption/Prison Break. Especially in these trying times, if you are taking up social issues then they should be local rather than foreign bred, so that the majority of the audience can connect and understand what you are trying to say and leave with a message.

the set of catch a chain

Other than that the performance of the actors was very good. Waleed Akhtar Zaidi (also one of the directors) as William Conrad gave a brilliant performance. The set and lightings were exceptional. For first time play writers the performance and script deserves respect. So, way to go guys… keep up the good work.



P.S:

This seems to be my mantra of the late: focus on your own culture, we have a very rich cultural heritage, and some brilliant literature and plays which fit perfectly in our modern society, they can be used as an inspiration. And if you want to focus on social issues, trust me we have plenty of those too.

By the way it takes guts to stage originality and you guys have plenty of those. :)