Ajoka Theatre presents hilarious ‘Amreeka Chalo’

Many Pakistani believe that American love towards Pakistan is just like a date-palm tree. When we need its fruit – it’s too high to be accessed while when we want its shadow in the sizzling heat, it denies that to us. But it is ironic to see that many of them also want to get settled in USA to live their lives there.
Exposing these dual standards of Pakistanis with regard to the USA, Ajoka Theatre has presented here a stage play ‘Amreeka Chalo’ (Destination USA) for the first time in federal capital making a strong statement about sensitive and serious issues in a satire.
This play ‘Amreeka Chalo’- an Ajoka Production, Lahore has been the 21st stage play out of total 22 included in ‘National Drama Festival-2011’ organised by Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) with an aim to promote theatre art in the country.
Written by Shahid Mehmood Nadeem and directed by his spouse Madeeha Gaohar, this Urdu comedy ‘Amreeka Chalo’ is a light-hearted, self-critical view of double standards, hypocrisies which mocks the love-hate relationship between Pakistan and the USA.The set, which displayed images of different American icons including King of Pop- Michael Jackson and superstar Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie made quite an impact on the fully packed PNCA hall.
Correctly depicting the incongruity between the public’s hate for US policies and its relative fascination of the US lifestyle, the play raised several interesting questions especially those regarding the contradictory nature of American policies towards military interventions, drone attacks and its definition of liberty, freedom and morality.
Set at the visa section of the US embassy, where a number of applicants for the US visa have gathered for interviews, the play starts off with the song “Chalo Chalo America” which has been composed primarily for the play. The visa seekers include a businessman, a probable illegal immigrant, a student, a puppeteer, a politician, a maulvi and the aged parents of a Pakistani-American resident. Each one of the visa seekers has a completely different reason for visiting the land of opportunities, ranging from seeking refuge, pursuing an academic career to even selling samosas (snacks).
A businessman, a possible illegal migrant pretending to be a tourist, a politician, a cleric, a student, a puppeteer, and an aged couple— all suffer humiliation at the visa section. Each one of the visa seekers had a completely different reason for visiting the land of opportunities.
During the visa processing, a US official named Raymond who is in charge of the security comes into the limelight. Although Raymond isn’t overtly dubbed as homosexual, his tendencies are evident from the special attention he pays to the male applicants.
One of the most interesting situations in the play takes place when a US embassy visa counsellor tells the eight visa seekers that only four of them will get the US visa as the quota set for the day has been reached.
Strangely enough, a little while later, suicide bombers raid the embassy and take all the embassy officials as well as the visa seekers hostage. The billboard outside the embassy quickly changes from ‘Welcome to America’ to ‘Welcome to Waziristan’. After successful negotiations with the US official, the matter is finally settled when the demands of the terrorists are met. The demands include processing visa for the four wives and 37 children of the commander of the terrorist group.
“Amreeka Chalo’ is a satirical response to the love-hate relationship between Pakistan and the US dilemma. Pakistanis will always hate US policies but when it comes down to the real question many would opt for settling down in the US. Meanwhile, the list for hating America is long and unending that includes military interventions, “do more” demands, drone attacks, etc,” commented Hashim Raza, an Ajoka production lover adding but the play did not end up being a political statement about international politics or US-Pak relations.
The performances of Furqan Majeed as Raymond, as well as that of the puppeteer played by Suhail Tariq were commendable. Additionally, Ahmer Khan played the maolvi very well.