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Osama The Demented
A Play by
Farzana Moon
This four-act play, though infused with herbal remedies, is also a comedy/parody, rather a medley of politics, religion, madness! A futuristic play in its essence of time, place and events, in a sense, that the setting is a decade later after the tragedy of "9/11". Osama, his wife, a mulla and a beautician are hiding in a cave in the northwest of Afghanistan, ringed by the clustering range of Pamir Mountains. All four characters are afflicted, paranoid of death or captivity. Osama's wife is an herbalist, concocting all sorts of pastes or potions for healing and sustenance. Osama has become a carpet weaver. The mulla is mired deep in doubts about religion, accusing Osama of zeal and bigotry. The beautician has become a cook; bitter and belligerent, prone to illnesses and afraid of dying. The first act unleashes a symphony of arguments about wars and warring spirits, healing potions for the suffered and the suffering are mixed and brewed, and fears and madness' are drowned in mirth and raillery. The second act begins with a new dawn of madness; music and dancing, ideation and healing. A continuation of music and dance is the inception of third act, fear replacing the sense of euphoria, mad talks spurting forth with the threat of doom and disease. The soot of madness and sickness rises afresh in the fourth act. All four characters are consumed by the agonies of the body and soul. Osama's wife harps about the efficacy of the herbs she is mixing, brewing or distilling, while the other three are getting angry, waiting for the magic potions. The wait is endless, and she succeeds in feeding a spoonful of poison each to all three of her patients, meaning to end her life in the same fashion. But her own madness comes to her rescue, while she decides not to drink poison, mocking both life and death.
Farzana Moon is a teacher and a bibliophile/Masters in Education, a poet, historian and playwright. She writes Sufi poetry, historical, biographical Moghul sagas and plays based on the stories from religion and folklore. Included in her writing ventures are one novella and a collection of short stories. Another completed work in fiction is a book about the Sufis and Mystics of the world. Published works in the series of her Moghul sagas are: Babur, The First Moghul In India; The Moghul Exile; Divine Akbar and Holy India; The Moghul Hedonist: Glorious Taj and Beloved Immortal. Her most recently published book is Holocaust of the East by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. She is currently researching a book about the Garden of Irem. She has participated in author/panel discussions at Columbia University and a collection of her plays are archived at Ohio State University. Many of her poems, plays and short stories have been published in literary journals. Born and educated in Pakistan, she is now a U.S. citizen.
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