manto ismat haazir ho

after a long time i managed to catch a play last evening that i really liked. naseeruddin shah directed this series of short sketches on the lives and stories of ismat chugtai and sadat hassan manto two short story writers who were prosecuted in the 1940s on charges of obscenity in a lahore court.

four stories were told, two by manto and two by chugtai. of the two manto stories the first was ‘boo’ with its crackling eroticism and tangible imagery- a story of a mans longing for the smell of a woman he once slept with on a rainy night; and the second was a story of a stray dog caught in between the borders of india and pakistan – perhaps an allegory for himself.

chugtais ‘lihaaf’ is a comic and controversial piece about lesbianism written in the 1940s. the last episode of the play focused on the relationship between the writers and the trial for obscenity. neither of the writers was actually convicted.

since so much of the play was narrated text – the dialogue was absolutely marvelous and the actors were terrific. you could almost see the characters being represented as they shifted in between parts in the story with such ease. the stage can be so much more intimate than a screen and prithvi makes the most of this intimacy with its reach-out-and-touch seating. we had seats at the corner and my legs were directly on the stage. actors looked me straight in the eye and spoke to me.