Rizwan, a drama based on Kashmir origin American poet Agha Shahid Ali's The Country without a Post Office, created such curiosity and enthusiasm among the drama lovers that it wasn't seen before among the Dhaka dwellers.
The drama narrated the grim tale of two siblings, Rizwan and Fatima, from Kashmir. Though Agha Shahid Ali wrote it based on Kashmir violence, it could be deemed a story of all the victims of political violence and terrorism around the world.
Moreover, it had been a story of imperial aggression, plights and cries of children, women and invalids who suffer most during any kind of violence.
The protagonist in the drama, Rizwan, was about to be born, and his family dreamt high of his future. Yet during his birth in the hospital the family had to suffer for a week. The drama showed how Rizwan was brought up in crisis and violence-stricken Kashmir. The narrator also told the story of Fatima in nuanced perspective. The drama didn't glorify the humanity in prose, in a traditional crisis-climax plane. The story itself was a crisis, so the dramatist took resort to poetic expressions. He brilliantly used metaphors, simile, irony and images, so the audience would be thrilled and touched; the director also used a brilliant combination of lights and props. Ridhwiwesh Bhatcharya translated it from The Country without a Post Office and Abhishek Mojumder wrote the script.
Syed Jamil Ahmed was the director of the drama. In fact, his impressive works and direction turned him into a legend in the Thespian world. One of the reasons of people pouring into the theatre was his direction and his return to the traditional drama after two decades, though he had been always active teaching in the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies at University of Dhaka. He challenged the traditional directional styles and performance. He experimented a lot with forms and representation and for this he was also amply criticized. In Rizwan, it seemed as if the whole auditorium acted alongside with the actors. From production to light works, his innovative ideas were seen everywhere. He proved once again that he could even best himself in his new work.
Yet the drama faced flaks from different walks of people. To represent different situations more appealingly, he used different images and illusions. Bodyline, choreography, blocking, composition, props, lights, music -- all made these images and illusions. Every image was a story, a different drama, a painting with its own glory. Through alienation he broke his frames and created a new one, a new painting -- the magic never ended. The audience was enraptured to see this magic, but unfortunately the storyline was not strong. It could not appeal in the hearts of the audience as the magical lights and illusions rendered them to feel such. The actors' voice and performance appealed to the audience, but the lustre and depth of their dialogue couldn't reach into the bottom of the heart. In addition, the story structure also seemed a little complex. If we excuse this, the drama was really impressive.
The performance of the actors such as Titas Zia, Mohsina Akter, Enamtara Saki, Mitali Das were brilliant. They radiated in their endeavour throughout the drama. Overall when the drama industry was really falling apart with the emergence of different media, Rizwan was truly a saviour. Syed Jamil Ahmed could take us to the theatre once again by his magical direction and impressive ideas.
