Till Love Does Us Apart

Two actors,seven scenes,Gulzar’s poetry and the story of a couple at crossroads,meeting each other over a period of several years. Director Salim Arif brings on stage Javed Siddiqui’s play Hum-Suffer,as part of the ongoing Summer Theatre Festival at Tagore Theatre. “When I read the script,I felt an urgent need to share the story with a larger audience,hoping it would evoke the same response in them as it did in me,” says Arif about the play they have been staging since 2009.

A contemporary take on relationships,the play talks about the social responsibility of a relationship,especially in our times when things are falling apart. The family as a pillar of society,the need for companionship and this generation’s individualistic attitude comprise the sub-text of the play. “There is no preaching or judgment,just a flow of events,and how small differences in a relationship can spell disaster for it,” says Arif.

The play has poetry by Gulzar,recorded in his own voice,and these 16 poems take the audience through different stages of the lives of the two main characters — Sonal (played by Lubna Salim) and Sameer (played by Harsh Chhaya). “There were no planned moments,and with two chairs on the stage,we chart a journey of many years,” says Lubna. Every snippet,she adds,has a graph,with a lot of emotional ground letting the dialogues flow.

The story is simple. Sonal and Sameer decide to file for divorce 15 years after marriage,with an understanding that life can be started afresh,taking a turn at crossroads

and going separate ways. But what seemed like an amicable solution leaves a few issues unresolved. The play is as much about love as it is about urban alienation.

Hum-Suffer will be staged at Tagore Theatre today,7 pm