KARACHI: It would not be wrong to claim that Pakistani admirers of fine art are now familiar with conceptual art. But on Tuesday evening, theatre goers, too, found an opportunity to witness a conceptual dance performance at the Arts Council of Pakistan titled Dance for Washing Machine and A Mother directed and choreographed by Greta Grineviciute and presented by the theatre group MMLAB based in Vilnius, Lithuania.

It was followed by another performance Raqs Aik Shay Aur Bachey Ke Naam adapted and directed by Sohail Malik. Both were well received.

It is fascinating how modern-day creative men and women, especially hailing from Europe, use memory as a veritable subject in a subtle manner. Doing that, they use objects that are used on a daily basis, with a touch of perfunctory value to them, as a potent metaphor for the vicissitudes of life. In the case of the first play, washing machine is that object.

There’s much to highlight in Greta’s performance. Let’s get to the technical aspect of it first, which is as important as the content of the story. The use of mobile phones and a large screen that makes the top half of the backdrop, and despite the fact that much of the conversation she has in the beginning (or pre-beginning) with a man in Lithuania is in English, subtitles are shown on the screen to make the audience aware of the goings-on.

Three-day conceptual dance event concludes today

Once she gets to the stage, puts the shoes on, slips into another attire and moves around the washing machine with a great deal of struggle, it becomes clear that the tussle is between the heart and the mind; the body signifies the duality. Things elucidate when she receives a call and her childhood is discussed — a childhood that got ruptured because of a parent’s self-centred act.

The pain that one endures or is forced to endure as a kid does not vanish easily. Its intensity may get mitigated with the passage of time, but it never goes away completely; it keeps manifesting itself in one way or another. This is convincingly conveyed by Greta on stage. The use of the screen feels justified when at one point while talking about her mother the close-up of her sweat-covered, teary-eyed face gets the audience’s undivided attention… and unstinted praise.

The three-day event organised in collaboration with the Arts Council concludes on Thursday (today).

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2023