In Rizwan, Syed Jamil Ahmed tells the story of a valley that has gardens of roses, but they are upside down. He tells the story of a colony, where people do not enjoy normal deaths, they are only killed. It is the story of a country that has no post offices. No letter reaches them and their correspondence is never communicated to others.
An adaptation of the Kashmiri American poet Aga Shaheed Ali’s poem “A Country without a Post Office”, the play is written by Indian playwright Abhishekh Majumdar. The Bangla translation is by Wrishibesh Bhattacharia. Syed Jamil Ahmed made the story a universal tale of the powerless and the oppressed.
Ahmed’s Bengali, Muslim characters in the play can be easily transposed to any Chakma or Marma or Brom character, to people of countless other communities. As I watched the play, images of a fleet on hazardous water, carrying distraught Rohingya people emerged, as if the play was telling their story too. I recalled all the other communities from all over the world. I was reminded of the story of our own liberation struggle from 46 years ago. When Fatima’s father is told that his daughter had a normal death, not killed after rape, and he released a sigh of relief; but then when he learns that Fatima died of bleeding from rape and becomes devastated again; and when we realise that a normal death is the most abnormal incident in this colony, we are reminded of the quote of Nirmal Sen “Give us the assurance of a normal death...” And then we also realise how close to home the story is.
“So, this is a story of oppressed people, not exactly a unique subject!” a reader may be forgiven for thinking. What is unique though is Syed Jamil Ahmed’s take on the story. There is always something unique and brilliant to be found in Syed Jamil Ahmed’s work. I didn’t see his Chaka, Macbeth or Shamar Ural, which were run in India. Other than a few plays like Komolaranir Shagordighi by the Department of Theatre of Dhaka University, in which he had some form of involvement, I had only seen one play directed by Syed Jamil Ahmed, which is Bishad Shindhu. That was nearly 20 years ago, but the memory is vivid as if it was on Friday. The impression Syed Jamil Ahmed’s Bishad Shindhu made on me has not been matched by anything else, with the exception of Ratan Thiyam’s works.
But that was until I sat through Rizwan. Syed Jamil Ahmed likes to play around with physical space. He transforms a small auditorium into a vast canvas, on which he paints with thousands of colours. The audience doesn’t just look straight, they have to look all around them. The repressive overlords descend from above, roses and origami boats hang in the air, Fatima and Rizwan come floating, as if from two corners of the earth, and their dead bodies ascend up into the sky. It is impossible to not get immersed in Syed Jamil Ahemd’s vision. It will tear up your identity as a citizen and transport you to that strange valley, where abnormal death is the normalcy, and murder is but a regular occurrence. The characters live on, disregarding their own deaths. A deceased Rizwan says to a deceased Fatima, “Don’t tell father that I died. Don’t tell me that father is dead either.” Syed Jamil Ahmed’s greatest achievement is that he convinces the viewer that he is among the living-dead characters in the play, and then he provokes him to wake up completely from the stupor. As citizens, we have learned to live in a world where those abnormal deaths are merely “news”. Ahmed challenges that understanding.
The use of light in the production was awesome. In a scene where the postman enters in a boat was particularly captivating. Smoke too, was used to create enthralling effects. Stage, lighting, costume – everything was fabulous. Unfortunately, the decision to use stock music was odd and failed to complement the stunning setup.
Speaking of odd, the birth scene of Rizwan also contrasted with the tone of the play. Although, amidst all the deaths in the rest of the play, the only scene of birth was destined to stick out. Sadly, Syed Jamil Ahmed did not have a powerful cast like he did in Bishad Shindhu, which included skilful actors, like John Martin. The actors in Rizwan struggled with the delivery of dialogues and had inconsistent pronunciation. But, the inexperience will hopefully turn into skill in the future.
There is nothing bad about witnessing a Syed Jamil Ahmed directed play after two decades. Only he can pull off 19 shows in the midst of an Eid vacation, in an empty Dhaka. He and everyone involved deserve accolades.
( Translated by: Saqib Sarker )
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
