'Almost Flawless', this play steals show in Hyderabad

Sifar theatre’s production Almost Flawless comes back to the city to engage audiences in questions related to religion and social issues..
A still from the play
A still from the play

HYDERABAD: Inviting audiences to question the nature of their own existence and the human condition, the characters of Sifar theatre’s “Almost Flawless” raise some pertinent questions on religion and society, while waiting for someone named Chalib Gablin. They engage in repetitive and circular dialogue and pass the time by discussing various topics, namely politics, social media, gender, and sexuality while making jokes.The twin characters of an unsuccessful actor and a poet were played by Feroze and Shekhawat respectively. The set was minimalistic and metaphorically represented the land of the nation; sometimes even referred to the nation as a boxing rink.

Dialogues were interspersed with Hindi and English, with bits of Urdu poetry sprinkled every time Shekhawat came to address an issue. Performed in the theatre of the absurd, the play was interactive, forcing the audience to participate at precisely the junctures where the victimhood of the characters was pinned, thereby making the audience play the role of society in the show.

“I wrote this show in 2016 and we performed this in Pune, Delhi, Thrissur and many other places, where it was widely loved,” said Feroze, the writer-director of the play. “Our next show is in Pune on June 2,” he added.

Despite any fixed script, the content is brilliantly structured. Making use of puns, metaphors and even good old Bollywood music, it emphasised a multitude of things, representing themes such as the futility of life, the search for meaning, and the existential dilemma of waiting for something that may never come. It is also like chasing a utopia, with also, at the same time, holding it responsible for the characters’ present state and asking for revenge.

Although the show is inspired by Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, there is no ambiguity in the play, it is very clear on what it wants to convey. The complexity is brought by the multitudinous existence of the characters in a diverse society, allowing audiences to relate to the confusion caused by the same.

“It is based on real events, I know people who had to go through such incidents,” said Feroze. The characters’ interactions are marked by a mixture of despair, hope, and a longing for some form of salvation or purpose. The play explores themes of time, religious, social and gender identities and also takes a jibe at those in power, in political and economic spheres.

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