Of Ismat and her tales

A play of three short stories written by the prolific writer would be staged on Sept 26

A play titled ‘Ismat – Ek Aurat’, a collage of three short works by Ismat Chughtai, directed by Vinay Varma would be presented at Lamakaan.

Ismat Chughtai was a veritable tour de force of women's writing in India. She was a woman who was a feminist by instinct, long before it became fashionable to flash the badge of feminism. Ruthlessly honest and deeply perceptive, Ismat ‘Apa’ presented the truth of society and its women in the same nakedness in which she saw them. She wrote with rare courage, truth and good humour which endeared her to anyone who comes across her writings.

Each story is narrated by one of three artistes in a sequence. As a prelude, a letter by Saadat Hassan Manto, an Urdu short-story writer, on his view of Ismat as a woman, would be read out. The play would then begin with Guftagu (Tete-e-tete), a monologue penned by Ismat herself where she mused and talked about her early life, family relationships and her writings, would be performed by Deepti Girotra.

The second story, Saas (mother-in-law), is about a unique saas-bahu pair that adds a new dimension to this perceived notorious relationship. The third and the last performance would be Chidi Ki Dukki (the deuce of clubs), which speaks about how wit and attitude in a woman can be more attractive than mere external beauty.

The production was previously played to a packed house in the Sunday to Sunday theatre festival at Mallika Sarabhai’s organisation Darpana, Ahmedabad in 2013 and had successful shows in Hyderabad. The most recent performance was given at the Researchers at Work Conference (RAW.CON) 2014, organised at the University of Hyderabad.

The play would be staged on September 26 at Lamakaan from 7.30 pm. Tickets are priced at Rs 100 and are available on bookmyshow.com and indianstage.in.