It is the sad story we’ve all heard before — the one about a struggling, grouchy old man who has nothing nice to say to his emotionally weak wife and complains about his two unemployed sons. But that’s not all; the play Sarbureeda Khwab, written and directed by Samina Nazeer, also shows flashbacks of how the angry man once had unrealistic dreams of virtuous and successful children.
The second play of the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa’s) festival, Sarbureeda Khwab is an adaptation of Arthur Miller’s award-winning play Death of a Salesman. The story is of a 60-year-old salesman Nazeer Hussain Farooqui (Nazarul Hasan), who has reached retirement age and is frustrated because he has no support from his sons. His wife Abida (Samina Nazeer) is concerned and shares her husband’s burden by listening. From garbage, construction and parking to overpopulation, thieves and his grown useless kids, he complains about everything. Nazeer shows animosity towards his older son Kamal (Hammad Siddique) for failing at school and getting involved in criminal activities. The younger son Ahsan (Zain Nazar) is a doctor by profession, but does not practice and plans to leave home.
The flashbacks show that Nazeer had high expectations from his sons, especially Kamal. But an event in their lives changed Kamal’s behaviour and he drifted away from his father; the family broke apart and Nazeer’s dreams were shattered.
The play is a sad story of a hard-working salesman who had high expectations of his children. PHOTO: PUBLICITY
Nazeer was bitter with how things had turned out. He loses his job, friends and mental stability. He asks his life-long friend to help him pay his debts, particularly the insurance payment. That is the only asset Nazeer has that can save his family from a financial crisis.
After some failed plans and bickering, Kamal tells his father that he forgives him for his faults and tells him how much he loves him. That is the moment when Nazeer feels relieved and realises that he needs to die to save his family’s financial issues. He crashes his car so that his family can get the insurance money.
Nazar, who had to age 30-some years for the role of Nazeer, was the star of the show. His body language, facial expressions and dialogue delivery were spectacular. Samina, as the writer and director of the play, could have been a stronger role; she lacked energy and seemed bored of her character. Other performances were average, except the children who were seen as young Kamal (Sarim Khan) and young Ahsan (Ibrahim). Hats off to the little ones, who played their roles to perfection — which is not something we can say about the rest of the cast.
The play was 105 minutes long, without an interval, and could have been cut shorter by at least half an hour so it wouldn’t appear to drag towards the end.
A member of the audience later remarked, “It was good but depressing. It touches so many aspects of life.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 26th, 2013.
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