Laughter in the face of human pain

Dear Editor,
Mr Al Creighton’s review of the play Kanyadaan in the Sunday Stabroek of November 23 offered an in-depth insight into the production.

I was there on the first presentation of the play and I must say that I was surprised that the audience’s response to the final scene where a father is broken and weeping is far removed from an expected human reaction of compassion. Laughter was the general response.

Kayadaan was to me, as a member of the audience, a series of serious emotional experiences which moved me. For example, Wanita Hubern did not fail to transmit to me her unbearable pain as a mother for a child abused.

The final scene of a father broken and weeping made a strong impact on me. I could not laugh then. To have done so at that point would have been to lose my human heart.

I am not judging others since reactions vary from person to person with respect to life’s events. But I must concede that I am bothered when we laugh in the face of human pain on stage and off stage.
Yours faithfully,
Krishna Nand Prasad