KARACHI: The Judgement is one of writer Franz Kafka’s oft-discussed short stories. It is about a young man who writes letters to a friend that according to him lives in Russia. The father of the protagonist is a prohibitive, patriarchal figure who questions whether his son’s friend in Russia exists. Things get so asphyxiating for the young man that he jumps into the river complying with his father’s directive.

Critics usually quote this story as reflective of Kafka’s troubled relationship with his own father, Hermann. Once the writer wrote a long letter to Hermann detailing the relationship but it never reached him.

A theatrical interpretation in Urdu titled Kafka — Merey Walid Ko Khutoot staged by Grips Theatre at the Arts Council of Pakistan on Saturday and penned by Khaled Anam presented a summarised version of the letter by using the poetic license of making both the character of Kafka (Ameed Riaz) and his father (Khaled Anam) read parts of it.

The performance begins with Riaz sitting at a table and reading the letter which he has set out to write. It is evident from his tone that while he is aware of the familial bond that he shares with his father, he is also afraid of him. The reason is elucidated once Anam’s character begins to say his lines, that is, read the other bits of the document. A host of issues come to the fore. The father doesn’t give attention to his son, he is always critical of one thing or another, for example, the quality of food, and doesn’t practise what he preaches.

The most poignant aspect of the series of arguments is when Kafka mentions that the laws or principles that Hermann’s made are for his son alone. The situation straitjackets the young man (who finds refuge in writing).

Kafka — Merey Walid Ko Khutoot is a nice effort because it tries to get to the nub of the story without much showiness. The writing (in Urdu) is simple, which one guesses is the right way to enable more and more people to get to know the giant of German literature. However, while Anam sounds more convincing in his approach to the part that he’s playing, Riaz on Saturday sounded rusty (read: under-rehearsed). He was either fumbling quite a bit or deliberately trying to correct himself to show reluctance of the character. Hard to tell.

The event was organised by the Goethe Institut Pakistan Library.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2024