"BALA KING"
(Adaptation of Brecht's "The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui")

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March - 1998 (Lahore)


Adaptation by: Shahid Nadeem
Directed by: Madeeha Gauhar

“Bala King" was first performed in March 1998 to mark the 100th Birthday of Brecht. Written in 1941, “Arturo Ui” is a savage and witty parable of the rise of fascism and Hitler, in which his story is recast in terms of a small-time gangster's take-over of the city's greengrocer trade. It skillfully captures the wide range of parody and pastiche in the original from Richard III to Al-Capone, from Mark Anthony to Faust and Gretchen-without diminishing the horror of the real-life Nazi prototypes. In Shahid Nadeem's Punjabi adaptation, Ui is replaced by Bala King, an “unemployed” pehlawan gang leader, who decides to leave the Taxali Gate adda and try his luck in the Badami Bagh world of inter city road transport. Badami Bagh is ruled by self- righteous businessmen, ready to trade all principles for business gains and lucrative contracts. Bala and his gang exploit the vulnerability and contradictions of these groups, aided by their muscle power. He bribes, blackmails and intimidates the businessmen and shopkeepers to accept his protection at a very heavy premium. Bala Pehlawan changes his name to Bala King, receives lessons in public speaking and political science and eliminates all opposition, circumvents law and public opinion and eventually establishes his total control over the area. The rise of Bala King and the inability of the people in resisting his dictatorial advances show the weaknesses of society and its vulnerability to violence, blackmail and corruption.

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Review: Brecht in the original tells his tale through a small time gangster who rises to take over the city's green grocer trade. Through written about a very specified event region of the world at a very specific time in history. Brecht's play has the power to transcend time and space restraints. It becomes applicable to the rise of fascism in all times and regions, especially, as Shahid Nadeem proves in his adaptation, to the walled city of Lahore. The plaengrossing and flawless in the end. It sent the audience into peals of continuous laughter, while maintaining the feeling that may be what was happening was not so funny after all: a difficult combination indeed, but an exemplary demonstration of Brechts ideals for epic theatre. (Shandana Khan)