The White Plague returns to Karachi theatres

Karachi:

I told Meher Jafri that adapting plague for the stage was fundamentally different from telling a story of star-crossed lovers. She took a moment to think it over. Theater plays on its own instincts. Whether tragedy or farce, the stage relies on the body as its intended mode of transmission. So what happens when a plague story takes the body itself as the crisis and puts it on stage?

Meher’s upcoming play, White Plagueis one way to explore this. The play, which premiered in November and on September 4 at the Al Hamra Theatre in Lahore, is due to return to the Arts Council in Karachi on August 21. The Urdu version is based on the penultimate work of Czech playwright Karel Capek and was the last work commissioned by the late Zia Muhyiddin.

Capek’s play is one of many works that have been given new life after the COVID-19 pandemic officially became the pandemic of the century. guardiana novel by Albert Camus plague Its sales tripled in 2020, mirroring similar growth in Italy. Other brands gaining renewed attention include Mary Shelley’s The last person (1826), José Saramago blindness (1995), and Michael Crichton’s Andromeda (1969).

If the pandemic and the rise of pandemic fiction feel like a distant memory, it’s worth remembering that WHO only ended the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency of International Concern. （Selection） On May 5 last year. In order to explore the significance of re-examining Capek’s anti-war novels in today’s context, Meher interviewed Express Learn about the creative process and why the story appeals to young audiences.

“We have some of the best actors and it’s a satire. So you get some hard-hitting topics with laughter,” she tells me over Zoom. We meet on a typical monsoon morning in Karachi, a day when power outages are common. Despite many complaints about the city’s shabby infrastructure and limited domestic space for artists, Meher remains optimistic.

“I like to use humor to explore themes and topics that are relevant in today’s world. I mean, the world is a place with a lot going on. There’s a lot for young people to learn,” she added. “The culture of bringing people together to watch something gives young people energy and enthusiasm to tackle the world. We like to say that young people are not involved, they’re so disconnected and in their own world, but they actually really want to be a part of everything.”

Just like today

Set in an unnamed European country on the brink of war, Capek’s gripping drama tells the story of a mysterious plague that strikes everyone over the age of 45. The play follows a dedicated doctor who discovers a cure but imposes strict ethical conditions on its use, challenging the government and society. As tensions rise, White Plague Explores themes of authority, morality, and the human spirit in times of crisis.

Although the play was written in 1937, with the world war looming and the Nazis on the rise, the Czech author’s take on the pandemic is just as relevant today. “It’s the most relevant story of our time,” said Kashif Hussain, one of the show’s stars, who played the lead in the film. Katir Hasinaon K Nam and Churals.

“You might start to suspect it was written in 1937 because of its premise and the global landscape within it.” White Plague This is Kashif’s third film after “Coronavirus,” in which he plays Dr. Galen, whom Kashif calls “a brave and compassionate” veteran and medical worker. “His understanding of humanity is simple: no one should be subjected to violence.”

The show’s setting and ambitions are generally impressive. Although the setting and characters are drawn from Europe, the COVID-19 pandemic is the latest focus for Pakistani audiences. Unlike many parts of the global north and global south, Pakistan has been lucky in its response to the pandemic. But how to reframe a global disaster when local audiences see only the positive side?

Sense of belonging

For Meher, the plague is just one aspect of the story. “I read the play when I was 16 and it always resonated with me. Even before the pandemic, it was always on my mind because the themes of moral courage and doing the right thing are always relevant.”

The timing was crucial as artists were battling with theatres still recovering from the aftermath of the pandemic. “It was refreshing to get audiences into theatres but it was challenging because we had lost the momentum. Post Covid, nothing was normal. We lost a lot of theatre actors in the past two years,” shares Kashf.

In a way, COVID-19 simply gave impetus to an adaptation that had been in the works for a long time. “The plague in the show is a virus that came from China. It mainly infects people over 45. It doesn’t infect animals. So when COVID-19 happened, I knew I had to bring the show back,” Meher explains of the striking similarities between reality and fiction.

Nearly 80 years after its publication, White Plague It became the focus of a virtual reading that Meher conducted with NAPA colleagues, and eventually evolved into a full-fledged work. The final approval was driven by one theme: belonging and identity.

“What does it mean to belong? Belonging is an essential human quality. We need to belong. I think our whole journey on this earth is a dance between loneliness and seeking connection,” she reflects. “Who are we? This question is broken down in the concept of the plague, because suddenly your body starts to attack itself. Then, the self-identity starts to collapse as well.”

Enjoy the good times

Yet all this painful existentialism doesn’t obscure the play’s fundamental purpose: to entertain its audience. “As theatremakers and directors, our job is first and foremost to entertain our audience,” Meher says.

Fawad Khan recently appeared in BalzacReiterating the show’s entertainment value, he said: “People should come and see this show because it is both realistic and funny. Even though the themes of this show are epidemics, death, war and disease, it is also a very entertaining play.”

“It’s a satire that will give you a lot to laugh at and think about.” Fawad, who plays the “conceited” Dr. Sigelius, jokes that his character is the head of a fictional clinic, a position he got through nepotism rather than medical expertise. Careful not to reveal too much, the actor promises that the show will touch Pakistani audiences.

MerriSaad Zameer, who is known to play a supremacist dictator who tries to use the plague as a pretext for war, is also playing a role. “The anti-war theme is also relevant to the audience, given the developments in Palestine,” he comments.

Artists around the world have spoken out against apartheid since Israel began a new wave of attacks on Gaza and the West Bank on October 7. From Roger Waters of Pink Floyd to Macklemore, the European and American art worlds have not been immune to the growing anti-war movement.

At home, Meher spoke about the sad reality of watching the genocide on screen. “When October 7 happened, our drama unfortunately became relevant for all the reasons we saw. Suddenly, there was no need to relate the story to World War II when we were witnessing the horror in high definition.”

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