KARACHI: One has seen quite a few yesteryear Pakistani and Indian films — and read short stories — in which the waiting area of a railway platform is used as a metaphor, either for longing or unrequited love. In this age of technological advancement, it has become rather scarce to use such metaphors. Similarly, in the 20th century, the theme of waiting, intizaar, in the realm of theatre assumed a significant symbolic value with Samuel Beckett’s absurdist masterpiece Waiting for Godot.

A play titled Waiting for Train staged by Kosovo’s Art Per Art group on Sunday evening as part of the World Culture Festival, organised by the Arts Council of Pakistan, employed both these ideas but didn’t treat the subject with utmost gravity; the symbolism that it contained was seamless, and with a fair degree of playfulness it successfully conveyed its message of the consequences of ‘steps’ and ‘missteps’ in life. The production was right out of the top drawer.

Why playfulness? Answer: there was no dialogue and the entire presentation depended on two performers’ (Kushtrim B Mehmeti, who also directed the project, and Mehmeti Preteni) movement on stage. The concept was contextually strong and professionally executed, so much so that one never felt that the two characters needed to use words to let the audience know what they’re all about.

The play has two characters. They have contrasting appearances: one is the non-serious, drifter sort and the other, a sophisticated chap wearing a hat. The props include a stretcher-like bed on wheels, double scaffolding and a dustbin. Both men have entirely dissimilar mannerisms but the one thing that’s common between them is the colour and type of the suitcases they’re carrying. The audience can also hear the rumbling of the trains leaving in the background.

The two are waiting for a train. To kill time, the drifter takes out a transistor and the other man, an apple from his suitcase. A funny sequence is created when the former takes bites of the apple that the latter has taken out and is reading a book simultaneously. Once their interaction increases, which are reactions, trains come and go and they miss them. As time passes, the men develop camaraderie.

Waiting for Train is a very well worked-out and performed illustration of why ‘no man is an island’. Humans’ psychological dependence on one another is far more important than what our physical conditions lead us to believe. The symbolism of the similarity of the suitcases, despite other stark differences, is intelligent. Bags contain the material that one deems important for one’s day-to-day survival and progress. No stranger knows what’s in them, just like no one knows how pure or vitiated one’s soul is.

The other praiseworthy aspect of the play was the way the actors cover the stage space. They make it usable the way a stage should be made useful, especially while reacting to songs such as Elvis Presley’s ‘Jailhouse Rock’.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2024