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Review To Faiz from
Alys: ‘Dear
Heart’ a play by Sam Lathem
Faiz
(Sam Lathem) and Alys (Helen Phillips) - Pic. Amarjit chandan Dear
Heart,
a 25-minute play in English based on the life of Faiz and his wife Alys,
and set in the period when he was imprisoned in Pakistan during the early
1950s on treason charges, was staged for the first time on 14 May 2011 in
Oxford, England. The event was organised jointly by Anjuman-e-Adab Oxford,
Oxford University Pakistan Society and the Faiz Centenary Celebration
Committee UK. The
play was a part of an evening of speeches, performances, and poetry
readings celebrating the life and work of Faiz. The play, dramatic and
thought provoking was received with rapturous applause and a standing
ovation. An imprisoned poet of Punjabi origin writing in the Urdu language
of feudal literary sensibility, being visited by Alys, the love of his
life, and the mother of their two young daughters - this sort of plot
would have risked falling into the trap of sentimentality a la
Punjabi/Urdu theatre. But the play steers clear of such a trap and carries
the message across in a simple, emotive and subtle way. The play gives
prominence to Alys’ story revealing her courage and power in the Faiz
narrative. Her character, played with feeling and expressiveness by Helen
Phillips, stands out. Faiz, played by Sam Lathem, displays deftly both the
helplessness of a prisoner and steadfastness of a committed poet. The two
guards are a pivotal and integral part of the play, particularly when they
are required not to speak. The older guard is played with powerful energy
and stage presence, by Charanjit Singh. The younger guard is played by Ali
Aulia, who manages to reveal a touching transformative journey. In no time
the raw intensity of the play takes you to a virtuality, beyond time and
space. Even if one is not familiar with the lives of Faiz and Alys, the
play communicates the emotional journey of two people caught in a
desperate and traumatic situation who are determined to survive against
all odds, the source of their survival – a powerful love for each other.
Finally, in the play there are echoes of Faiz’s appeal to a universality
in revealing that the guards are also prisoners. Words and images by Amarjit Chandan
The writer and director Sam Lathem says about the play: I have been inspired to write Dear Heart with
one simple thought - love for the whole world cannot be locked away
and forgotten about. Alys Faiz a woman in a new world, armed only with
love will fight for all human rights. I
wrote the play, earlier this year, setting it in and around the
small cell in which Faiz was imprisoned. This gave me a strong backdrop
for the play. Alys had not seen Faiz, for three months, this gave her a
strong emotional centre from which I could write. Discovering Faiz, had
been tortured by two guards, she first sets about her prison reformation,
she then sets about Faiz’s reformation reaffirming his sense of self
worth. Faced with a mountain to climb, sorting out the political and
personal corruption, she does so armed only with love. The play ends with
Alys saying to Faiz that he must be patient, and to keep writing. As she
exits, we realize, how strong she has been, and how strong she must be to
get her husband released. Alys
has been a footnote in Faiz’s life and at times for far to long. I felt,
I needed to shine the light on her, to step out of the shadows of Faiz’s
beautiful light and for us to realise there would be no him without her.
Faiz (Sam Lathem) and prison guards Ali Aulia and Charanjit Singh
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