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Rahul and Javeria – “It’s a Desi Feminist Romeo And Juliet”

By Syed Ali Arshad

The Shakespearian tragedy that caused ripples around the English-speaking world, the timeless saga of the forbidden love between Romeo and Juliet, has been adapted and remade countless times across the globe. It has also been experimented with varying flavors of indigenous cultures, so the play becomes more relatable to the audience at hand and further away from the rich European people it was originally written on.

Karachi-based Blank Page Productions also took on the laborious yet rewarding task of creating a play based on the above-mentioned drama but with a twist so as to make a progressive statement against the same old patriarchal and militarist mindset of that era that still exists to this modern day, particularly in the backdrop of Pakistani society. Directed by Elsa Muhammad Sajjad, the cast of ‘Rahul and Javeria’ comprises students from various high schools in the city.

Curtains open three friends on stage, singing praises of their friendship while they flamboyantly hoparound, immediately gluing the audience to the stage. Then follows for the next few hours the familiar tale of two families, the hatred of centuries and despite this two young birds from the two hostile families falling in love-at-first-sight resulting in all hell breaking lose.

But here is the thing it is not just about that. It’s the 21st century and our families are tech savvy. While parents are reactionary, the children are heavily influenced by modern narratives of feminism and clarities of the #MeToo Movement. Modern-day Juliet is advised by her friend about self-love and for creating an identity for herself and not in association with a male counterpart. 

Modern-day Romeo is a hopeless romantic and needs to self-reflect on what his obsession is really about. Rahul and Javeria sheds light on hypocrisy and unjust standards of society: on the obsession of the social construction of marriage, on what is expected out of a woman, and what it really means to love someone. Alas, as the fairy-figure in the show aptly commented,

“Women are passed around from one home to another, (much) like a pillow in a children’s game”

‘Rahul and Javeria’ also subtly critiques even grander narratives relating to our familiar geopolitical conflicts and their absurdity (if you have already watched it yes I am referring to how the 41-year old character named ‘Lahore’ is asked upon his arrival to describe what the city of Karachi means to him).

Moving on, the stage had a minimalist design and screenplay clearly furthered a character driven plot. As the classic dramatist Mr. Bennett said “the foundation of good fiction is character-creation and nothing else”, and here praise is due, as nearly all the characters were in shades of grey, just as humans really are Javeria’s father is crude with his enmity but treats strangers nicely, Javeria’s mother and her foster mother both identify with struggles of a woman, but both succumb, as the product of the society they were raised in. 

On this note, I should mention the ‘Momin’, Rahul’s dearest friend, whose comic character, that seemed to have mastered the art of delivering hilarious punch-lines at all the right times, was also a realistic manifestation of people who still believe in dreams and ideals. All in all, the characters were well crafted to be relatable.

It is worth celebrating that theatrics by our young, vibrant, and progressive lot is returning to the scene. The entire cast and crew are school-going students. As the creative head, Elsa Muhammad Sajjad, also mentions, “We try to advance art amongst the youth which is why we only take students”.

It is the 7th play of the company in past three years and more such plays are in the making. The city needs more of these initiatives, and ones that are also accessible for all lots to enjoy. ‘Rahul and Javeria’ has dance, poetry, drama and humor – a great opportunity to go out with your friends and family on a Friday night, have a blast, and learn in the process.

User Rating: 5 ( 1 votes)

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