KARACHI: An understatement: William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is, arguably, the most famous love story in world literature. Why? It’s about destructive teenage romance that challenges family traditions and subverts community values, written with a poetic flair that resonates with all those who have fallen in love or, better still, want to fall in love. An Urdu translation of the beautiful saga by Khalid Ahmed and directed by Zia Mohyeddin that opened for theatre lovers on Friday at the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) was one of the most eagerly awaited events in the city’s post-Covid cultural calendar. Does it live up to expectation? A difficult question to answer.

The story in a nutshell — not as a spoiler because most literature buffs are familiar with it. Juliet (Noreen Gulwani) and Romeo (Ali Sher) run into each other in Verona at a ball. Their love comes to the fore when Romeo doesn’t leave the premises of her house after finding her alone at the window (the celebrated balcony scene). It turns out that their families (Capulets and Montagues) are enemies.

The two, like most young people, are married secretly by Friar Lawrence (Samhan Ghazi). Tybalt (Mehroz Gul), a nephew of Lady Capulet (Zarqa Naz), is livid and wants to fight Romeo for showing romantic interest in Juliet. In the ensuing scuffle, Romeo’s friend Mercutio (Fawad Khan) gets killed. Angered by it, Romeo kills Tybalt. He is subsequently banished to Mantua by the Prince of Verona.

In the meantime, Juliet’s father Capulet (Farhan Alam) fixes her marriage with Count Paris (Aqeel Ahmed). Disturbed, the young Juliet looks to Friar Lawrence for help. He gives her a potion that will make her appear to be dead. She does that. Romeo, who has no idea about Friar’s plan because a letter that was supposed to reach him doesn’t get delivered to him, returns to Verona after hearing that Juliet has died. He faces Paris at Juliet’s tomb, kills him and finds Juliet in the burial vault. He kisses her for the last time and poisons himself to death. Juliet wakes up, sees the dead Romeo and kills herself, too.

Romeo and Juliet is being staged at Napa till 26th

Romeo and Juliet is, as critics have pointed out, about youthful potential ready to press the self-destruct button. Shakespeare sets the tone for the play in the prologue by suggesting that the air of the location where the story is set is suffused with hostility.

Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.

It means action from the get-go. At the heart of it all, is love and its capability to destroy everything that comes in its way, including those who live to love. This is why the characters of Romeo and Juliet (the latter hath not seen the change of fourteen years — that’s how young she is) are central and germane to the basic idea.

Both the translation and direction of the play are enough to watch the story for. But when Fawad Khan as Mercutio, Bakhtawar Mahzar as Nurse, Rahil Siddiqui as Benvolio and Zarqa Naz as Lady Capulet overshadow, if not upstage, the young main characters with super impressive performances, it says something about the effort in entirety. Youth is associated with vivaciousness, vitality and friskiness — not to mention a penchant for amour. A young boy or a girl utters romantic words with the kind of passion that turn their whole existence into a giant, throbbing heart, and move on the face of earth with endearing frenzy.

The great English novelist Julian Barnes in his latest novel Elizabeth Finch that came out in April this year writes about the art of acting, “The perfect example of artificiality producing authenticity.” And the definition of authentic is: of undisputed origin.

The play will run until June 26.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2022