Two-day theater performance by Ajoka starts at PNCA

ISLAMABAD, Apr 20 (APP):Ajoka Theater performed “Chaak Chakkar” play here on Friday in collaboration with the German Embassy and Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA).
Executive director Ajoka Shahid Mehmood Nadeem and Dr.Kalle Holzfvss from German Embassy attended the opening of the two-day performance at the PNCA auditorium.
The audience praised the performance of the Ajoka Theatre artists including Naeem Abass, Sohail Tariq, Hina Tariq, Usman Raaj, Qaiser Khan, Nabeel Butt, Luke Kelvin, Bilal Mughal, Fahad Ali, Shagufta Saleem, Muniba, Tazeem John, Ali Haider, Fahad Ali, Rohaib Christopher, Tazeem, Asad, Shahzad, Ali, Kamran and Thomas.
“ChaakChakkar” is an Urdu adaptation of Brecht’s celebrated play, “The Caucasian Chalk Circle”. Originally premiered in 1948, the play is a great example of Brecht’s “Epic Theatre”.
It is a parable about a maid servant of the rich ruler who takes care of the royal baby, abandoned by his mother while running away after being overthrown.
The story was based on a Chinese legend and placed in the Soviet Union around the end of the World War II.
Brecht uses the legend to present the question of social ownership and the greed and selfishness of the capitalist society.
In Shahid Nadeem’s Urdu adaptation, the story is placed in the period of political upheavals during the fall of the Mughal Empire in India. The central character is Rano, the maid, who rescues Subedar Akharzai’s baby boy and looks after him despite her poverty and the adverse security situation, even sacrificing the love of her fiancé. When the tide turns, the wife of the Subedar returns to reclaim the child, who happens to be the inheritor of  a huge fortune.
The case is presented before a rogue-turned- maverick judge. The tumultuous political situation and the “suomoto” arbitrary justice of Judge Ajab Khan makes the play meaningful for contemporary Pakistan while the period costumes and captivating songs in the Brechtian tradition,make the play entertaining and enjoyable.
The second performance would be “Charing Cross,” by artists of Ajoka Theatre on Saturday.