A review on Pakistani Musical Comic theatre play, ‘Ye Shadi Nahi Ho Sakti’ [This Marriage Cannot Take Place] (2016). Its Asst. Director is Shazia Adnan while its Co-Directed by Tabish & Ahmed Mujtaba.
+ Crew
- Directed by Irfan Sadiq
- Written (Adapted) by Nawaz
+ Dancers
- Asiya Anjum
- Mahnoor
- Sadaf
- Sana
- Marium
- Madiha Ismail
- Anusha
- Fajr Sheikh
- Ameena
+Note
Ye Shadi Nahi Ho Sakti is a slapstick, musical farce play focuses vitally on the love -friendship understanding with your wife. It shows us that how very delicate this relationship is before making a hasty decision on ending it. It has a few songs with dance sequences.
This play is originally written by Thornton Wilder in English by the name as ‘Match Maker’.
+ Full Cast
- Faham Usman as Dada
- Zahra Tuba as Daadi
- Minhaal Rizvi as Khushi
- Yousuf Raza as Aashiq
- Adeel Sohail as Naheed Raza
- Hira Dar as Mukhtara
- Rohail Butt as Jahangir
- Ujala Hussain as Khushboo
- Waris Ahmed as Ramzan
- Rimsha Usman Ghani as Allah Rakhi
- Hoorain Iqbal as Perveen
+ Plot
It is about a grandfather ‘Dada’ who is looking for a new young wife in replace of the current one with whom his marriage lasted of 50 years. During his search, the family members are terribly affected by his selfish decision.
+ High Points
i – The performance by Faham Usman as Dada was one of the most amazing theatrical performances I ever watched in a play. When he made his appearance, there was an extra round of applause for him. As most of the people knew how well his performance is. I in particular was watching first time and unheard of this actor. He made a clean sweep with his tremendous performance which was uncalled for. The dream sequence where he finds himself with bunch of young girls while standing next to NEW LOVE Mukhtara, was not only splendidly handled, directed & performed but the way the unrealistic things happens in a dream such as an old man who cannot walk properly in real life — needs a walking stick to support him instead here in this dream sequence he is literally jumping in joy and fully energetic as a child. It was stunning to watch.
ii – The direction thoroughly taken care of in almost the entire play. I was spellbound when the director himself told the audience after the play that ‘This is my first comic play that I have directed’. Impressive!
iii – This play was longer than what usually play’s standard time length is. Yet due to various interesting characters, few musical dance sequences, uproarious performances by a number of stars and countless gags … the audience were deeply connected with the play that it would be extremely rare that one would even glance towards his watch to see what time is it.
iv – The script was so entertaining with VAST ABUNDANCE of ironic funny dialogues that even if you missed multiple punch lines, it does not matter. The play is heavily filled with it as ‘Ocean of Jokes’. Nawaz adapted the play, either he or someone further re-wrote the play to make it funnier and interesting which BTW remained true to their word. The script was the strongest reason for this play’s overwhelming success.
v – Before the play actually started, a dance sequence was initiated. The first dance sequence didn’t link with the play … or so it seemed. Then after some passage of time, another dance sequence was inserted. At that time, I was wondering ‘Why are there dance sequences are conducted which are unable to connect itself with the plot? What’s the point of having young girls in it? Should we as an audience look upon them as a sort of “Item Songs”‘? But this misconception was cleared once the third dance sequence came into view with protagonist. These dance sequences were actually ‘Dreams’ that the protagonist was having throughout the play. Bravo! Well thought and choreographed.
vi – Hina Dar (though made a late appearance), looked very beautiful and elegant especially in her dance sequences.
vii – The entire cast was NEW faces for me to watch their performances. As for the artistic dancers, this was their first performance on stage. Very nice!
viii – People, who have missed this play, have missed something really special. At first, I hardly had any expectations from this play as the entire cast was new comers to me. When I saw the director, I realized that he looked awfully familiar. Sir, it was highly entertaining to watch. I would be looking forward to your next upcoming play. Well Done!
+ Low Points
i – Most of the performers of the play were focusing on how to ‘Act’ comedy. In many cases, the performances were going ‘Over the Top’. In comedy plays (to make them effective), one should keep it in mind that the performers should NOT “Act” comic rather than go with the flow of your character whereas the audience would laugh accordingly to the hilarious, awkward situation due to your actions and temperament that surrounds the character/(s). The phrase goes as ‘Do not try to make the audience laugh. Let them laugh on their own’. This is known as ‘Intelligent Performance’.
ii – I believe that Zahra Tuba as Daadi should work hard on her voice as the character that she was playing did not sound well on-stage. I am aware that this was her first performance as well but she should give heed in practicing on her voice control. Good acting schools give classes on it. This is a serious advice.
iii – The main plot of the play introduced very late. Before that the audience would be engaged in the comic performances and punch lines but be left thinking that ‘Perhaps the protagonist is either Naheed Raza / Aashiq’?
iv – As a director, if I am giving such utter importance to even a smaller detail then it is wise to focus on the production design as well. Yes, I am referring to the background set design. It looked ‘As If’ the set was designed in a hurry. The set should not only be attractive but suitable accordingly to the main scenes with detailed designs, relevant props belong to that scenario and furniture (with a limit) where the blocking and the movement of the performers are specified easily.
+ Overall
Irfan Sadiq showed to the audience that how much creative he really is when it comes to musical comedy plays. The strong performances and sensational script raised Ye Shadi Nahi Ho Sakti to much greater heights of success.
Rate: 4.25 out of 5 stars
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