Staging Ismat Chughtai's 'Do Haath' (A Pair of Hands)

A group of 10 amateur actors -- mostly from Indian and Pakistani backgrounds -- came together in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-Saint Paul during summer of 2008 to read the works of authors such as Nazeer Akbarabadi, Ismat Chughtai, Saadat Hasan Manto, and Habib Tanvir in Hindi and Urdu. The collective called itself Parakh Theater Group and worked together for two months to develop a play based on Ismat Apa's story, Do Haath (A Pair of Hands).  The play was staged in Pangea World Theater in September 2008. With Tarun Kumar as the artistic director, this effort was organized by Richa Nagar and was supported by the Pangea World Theater and the University of Minnesota. Below are some glimpses from rehearsals of Do Haath.

• For a blurb about the story and event, click here
• For a PDF of this play in Hindi, click here

Amma's Darbar
(L to R: Nighat Yasmin, Richa Nagar, Medha, Meera Sehgal, Brendan LaRocque, David Faust, Divya Karan)

Divya as the first narrator (sootradhar) of Do Haath

Richa as the second narrator of Do Haath

Tarun Kumar (centre) explains the scene to Yasmin, Divya, and Medha

Mehatrani (Yasmin) blesses Ratiram (Navneet Narayan) and Gori (Subha Narayan)

Gori's ghoonghat reemerges with the arrival of Ratiram

Gori (Subha) and Ratiram (Navneet) take an oath of love

Rabiya and Medha announce that the second day is also a full house!