Live and in person at the Al Green Theatre, Part of the Toronto Fringe Festival until July 13, 2024
An adaptation of Toba Tek Singh by Saadat Hasan Manto
Co-directed by Deval Soni and Ethan Persyko
Light and projections by Abbey Kruse
Props and costumes by Puja Karira
Sound by Kabir Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma and Prakhar Sachdev
Cast: Sarabjeet Arora
Harsh Prajapati
Rahul Chawla
Shivam Sapra
Manik Arora
Parth Soni
Chhavi Disawar
Lakshita Khatter
Taranjot Bumrah
Surinder Arora
Divyanshu Mani Hans
Moving, vital, full of emotion and integrity.
I was invited to review Toba Tek Singh produced by Dramatic Jukebox for the Toronto Fringe. I was told it was about the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. I thought that was so brave of any company to try and dramatize that story and definitely wanted to see it. I went on July 4th, the opening day.
It was set in an insane asylum with many and various characters in it. When they talked either to themselves or others, they spoke in a language I didn’t understand. I prevailed. There were surtitles projected on the curtain at the back of the stage that I think offered commentary (I saw the date 1947), but I couldn’t read anything because either the font was too small and the projections were fuzzy or the font was larger but still fuzzy. Also, the projection was up for about six seconds when it would have been better to project them for 15-20 seconds. This went on for about 48 minutes of the 60 minutes of the show. Then each actor (there are 11 of them) came forward and gave a monologue in English about the immigrant experience, feeling lost and without a home, trying to find a home in which to belong.
I wrote to the person who invited me saying I was sorry I couldn’t review the show because I didn’t understand the language for most of it and could not read the surtitles. I still thought it was a worthy subject.
The woman wrote back to apologize. It was the first time the company had used surtitles. The company listened to the comments including mine and worked hard to fix the surtitles problem. They now used a larger font that was in sharper focus. They also added more surtitles for more context. The woman explained that they performed the show mainly in Hindi and Punjabi because they could not attain the same emotion in English. Fair enough. I bought a ticket to see the show again. The difference in performances was astonishing.
When I saw the show again: A clear projection indicated 15th August, 1947 in a bold, large font followed by: “The British bid farewell to India after their 200-year-rule. India is split into two separate entities, India and Pakistan. All Hindus and Sikhs had to go to India and the Muslims to Pakistan…”
Characters wandered on stage, looking dazed and confused, carrying their worldly possessions in a cardboard box or a suitcase if they were lucky. A woman in a sari entered, afraid of any man who came near her. Another person cleared and cleaned the floor as his portion of space. These were also in a way the people of the asylum. Even those people were to be separated. Some people were sent hundreds of miles away from their homes to a new home where they did not speak the language.
A man with a large stick seemed to be one of the guards of the asylum. He wore a white robe on which were large words in red paint?/blood? At the bottom of his robe was the word “Help” in red. That was dramatic. Sometimes criminals were put in the asylum along with those who were mentally ill. It was not a safe space.
The main languages were still Hindi and Punjabi, but there were more surtitles with much more context that illuminated the confusion these people felt at being wrenched from their homes to live in a strange place; if they lived in Lahore they wondered where that now was? “Hindustan or Pakistan?” One man didn’t know where he was so he decided to live in a tree—at the top of a ladder with an ornate rope configuration at the top. One was never in doubt of the emotional cost of this division because the acting was so vivid.
In the end Sarabjeet Arora, who played an man who was considered crazy but often spoke wisdom about the situation, came forward and spoke in English. He spoke of his parents who were very young when they experienced partition. He talked of feeling lost, displace and without a sense of home. Hs speech was heart-felt, eloquent and moving.
Toba Tek Singh is a stunning piece of theatre about a terrible time in history and how it affected so many people with just a line drawn through a country, displacing hundreds of thousands. I so appreciated the company’s efforts to make this story clear for their audiences by improving the fonts, sharpness of focus and the increase in the commentary. I also respected their need to be true to their story and convictions by telling it mainly in Hindi and Punjabi. It was very clear. Bravo. I’m glad I saw it again.
Dramatic Jukebox presents for the Toronto Fringe.
Runs until July 13, 2024
Running time 60 minutes.
www.fringetoronto.com
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I have huge respect for the way you handled reviewing this piece of theatre. Thank you for bringing our attention to a theatre production that is both political and (by your words) is also powerful and moving. Wish I was closer to Toronto so I could attend.
Thanks Maya. It was terrific. I have a lot of time for these artists who do everything to make their work clear to an audience that might not know the language. Sorry you can’t see it.