'Sheeshe ke khilone' staged in the Capital
Bhartendu Natya Utsav, a tribute to the father of modern Hindi literature as well as Hindi theatre – Bharatendu Harishchandra presented 'Sheeshe ke khilone', – an adaptation of the English play 'The Glass Menagerie' by Tennessee Williams – on December 12, 2019, at Kamani Auditorium.
Scenes of the play are drawn from the memories of the narrator Aejaz, a character in the play.
He is an aspiring poet who works in a factory to support his mother Nafeesa and sister Lubna, who actually has a slight problem with one of her legs. Their father had run away from the house many years ago.
To make Lubna socialise with the people of her age, Nafeesa enrolls her for some classes instead Lubna decides to just roam around in the town because she feels inferior.
Nafeesa asks Aejaz to find a young suitor to finalise Lubna's marriage. Aejaz brings in Amjad a happy go lucky young man who studied with Lubna in school.
During this time, Aejaz reveals that he wants to join the merchant navy and has used up the money kept to pay the electricity bill of the house.
Another shock which comes is the revelation that Amjad is already engaged to another girl, and then he leaves their house.
Lubna has been preserving glass dolls since her childhood. At some point, her favourite glass doll is disfigured by Amjad, that is how the title has been derived.
This play questions on why God doesn't take care of humans just like the female protagonist of the play Lubna takes care of her glass menageries. Why God leaves us to wander in difficult situations? This is, in fact, the motive of the play as expressed by Aijaaz at the end of the play.
Thomas Lanier 'Tennessee' Williams III was an American playwright and is considered among the three foremost playwrights of 20th century American drama. It is said that this play closely reflects his own unhappy family background.
Govind Singh Yadav, who has adapted the play in English, completed his Theatre studies from prestigious institutes namely the National School of Drama (New Delhi) and Bharatendu Natya Akademi (Lucknow).
The four-day theatre festival, which has been organised by Sahitya Kala Parishad, will be held at a different venue (LTG Auditorium, Copernicus Marg) on December 13 and 14, 2019.
