A review on Pakistani Slapstick-Comedy theatre play, Good Luck Darling (2020). It was performed at Laughter Theatre Festival 2020, NAPA.
+ Crew
- Directed by Farhan Alam
- Written by Athar Shah Khan
+ Note
Good Luck Darling is a rollicking farce by famed writer, poet and comedian, Athar Shah Khan. Farhan Alam Siddiqui has made over thirty stage appearances in both dramatic and comedic plays presented by NRT. Along with acting and directing he now runs his own production house known as TKF Entertainment.
This was the first out of three plays to be performed in this festival.
+ Full Cast
- Aqeel Ahmed as Seth Razzak
- Hammad Khan as Gola
- Fraz Chottani as Jumma
- Kashif Hussain as Badshah
- Bazelah Mustufa as Seema
- Samhan Ghazi as Sikandar
- Sarmad Khan as Khawaja
+ Plot
Seth Razzak’s fortune is stuck in his daughter and son-in-law’s joint back account – which they can’t access now that they’re divorced. Chased by debtors, Razzak badly needs this money. Will his daughter and estranged son-in-law remarry and get him his money back?
+ High Points
i – I believe that it was a good effort by Farhan to handle this play’s direction. He himself is a terrific comic actor who often plays lead roles. The challenge he accepted to do, turned out to be in his favor.
ii – The person behind its lighting has done a wonderful job. To have the lights fluctuate and dimming it as per scene’s demand, were all at right timings. It improved the play’s presentation.
iii – A good performance by Kashif Hussain who plays the key character to this story’s tense situation. Here he portrays a mad man, by the name as Badshah. No matter whatever role Kashif is given to do, giving his best is what he would always deliver.
iv – The humor level is a mixture of mild towards positive. Sure, it takes a slow start. But the laughter roars in from the 2nd half especially. And from there, it takes it all the way.
v – Hammad Khan’s character as Gola, the owner’s servant bought smiles on many people faces. He often plays comic relief characters and here too, fully satisfied the audience and critics alike. Other Honorable Mentions: Sarmad Khan.
+ Low Points
i – Due to having a weak script, the play was stretched at its maximum length. A rewrite is much needed, before being performed on-stage again.
ii – If the writer / director decides to eliminate Fraz’s character, no one in the audience would actually notice. There was no point of his existence for the story to progress or relevant with the plot. His repeated one liner joke to Fraz’s cross-dressing appearance was all unnecessarily included to the play.
iii – A good writer would know how to manage sex comedy without making it vulgar. Many random jokes were inserted in the script. Most of the punchlines were mediocre.
iv – I don’t really know to what was going through the writer’s head to add irrelevant twist in the end? Throughout the play, this serious issue was not even hinted or highlighted. Writing comic plays doesn’t mean to add anything you like, without making its heads or tails.
v – A dull, boring set design, is another reason why to lose your mood.
+ Overall
Although, Farhan’s Good Luck Darling manages to bring a positive laughter combined with good direction. However, its unnecessary sex-based jokes filled with big scoops of vulgarity, ruins the moment of this play’s triumph.
Rate: 2.25 out of 5 stars
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