Of faith and tolerance

Strongly enough to direct an off-beat play on it called Acts of Faith. The idea was to throw light on some of the aspects of terrorism that normally people wouldn’t have deemed fit to take up. But he does, and with a vengeance. The play, which was staged recently, is a high tension drama set aboard a hijacked 747, somewhere between Cairo and New York.

It’s the story of a young Shiite, Ahmed, played by Zafar Karachiwala. Fanatic and militant, he holds a Jewish American psychologist, Barbara hostage – played by Soni Razdan. She returns to theatre after a long gap of 10 years with Acts of Faith.It tells of the interaction between their respective faiths his fanaticism which leads him to the extent of militancy and her humanity which believes in tolerance. Naturally nerves get cracking as the tension unfolds. As a sub-plot, the young militant has to fight off the woman’s strong sexuality which she herself is unaware of. As the story unfolds, both learn and unlearn many things from each other while trying to prove their own beliefs superior. And the message the play tries to convey is more important than the climax.

Says Dadachanji, "I think most people have lost their faith today and are very insecure." Towards the end, the young militant who is a product of circumstances, is swung around by the woman to a complete switch of faith. But the audience refuses to be anticipated. Much to Dadachanji’s surprise, during the preview and on the opening night, the audience had more sympathy and compassion for the terrorist than for the woman who was held at gun point for hours by a man who could have shot her any moment."

Dadachanji intends to rectify this in his future shows as he would prefer a balance of sympathies between the woman and the militant. But what he found most difficult was the set. The challenge was to devise a set similar to the interiors of a plane, that could fit in any of the city’s auditoriums, be it as small as Prithvi or as spacious as the Sophia Bhabha auditorium, and simultaneously give the impression that there are over 300 hysterical passengers sitting below the upper deck holding their breath.

There are only two actors on the stage throughout the two hour play. The rest are all in the background. Hence, lighting plays a major role in bringing forth the minute expressions on the faces of the actors., . The play was postponed as its original lead actress, Farida Peddar, took ill suddenly. She was also a close friend of Dadachanji’s. Farida, herself a trained psychologist, a social worker, a consultant to school children for psychological problems , was to play Barbara a psychologist, a grand believer in human faith and a woman who knows that she might never be able to see her son again if the terrorist has his way. The play was postponed again and again in the hope that Farida would recover. Finally, late last year she told Dadachanji to look for another actress, as she was succumbing to malignant cancer. She passed away recently.

The play has been dedicated to her. "This play is a plea for tolerance," says Dadachanji, "A hijacker may have a point of view as well. He is the product of a particular society. The woman also has her shortcomings. She too is brought up on wrong assumptions. I think the play is relevant today.

Anybody could be held a hostage and at any place. The whole business of terrorism is aimed at innocent civilians. My play has a lot of violence." says he.

Written by Marilyn Felt, Acts of Faith, has not been Indianised as it gives an universal message. Dadachanji, who has done a lot of research on the subject from watching video clippings, to collecting newspaper and magazine copies on the topic says, "Ultimately, it is about two human beings. It goes on to say that you may have two different view points but you must be tolerant." While he thinks that Zafar’s body language is fabulous, Soni is very intense. And had it been Farida, he would have used her compassion, for she excelled in that.

Dadachanji also took help from the Israeli consulate as he thinks they are greatest fighters of terrorism. Some Arabs also helped him out with the vocabulary, to get theright flavour to the language. But he is quick to add, "This is only a play. While I do not agree with everything the play says and all this might not be possible in real life, I do believe in its message of faith and tolerance."