Category: Theatre Plays

A review on Pakistani comic theatre play, Kheil, Kheil Meh (2017). Its Production House is ZAHRSSS.

 

 

+ Crew

• Directed by Zakiullah Khan

 

 

 

+ Note
The script is inspired by Bollywood hit film ‘Taare Zameen Par’ (2007). The play is based on condition, Dyslexia (reading disorder) patients. Adults and children were invited by Kazi Trust foundation at NAPA to conduct this play by ZAHRSSS productions.

 

 
+ Full Cast

1. Arshad Malik as Jabbar
2. Adnan Anis as Noman
3. Kaneez Fatimah as Shumaila
4. Ahmer Hussain as Student #1 / Sabzi Wala / Zubair Mamu
5. Asif Sehzad Malik as Student #2 / Muhalay Wala
6. Maria Baloch as Saira
7. Zakiullah Khan as Teacher

 

 

 

 

+ Plot
Although Noman is repeating 9^th class for the third time, still he is barely passing in his subjects. His parents are quite worried for their son especially his dear mother.

 

 

+ High Points
i – Arshad Malik played the role of Jabbar was not only hilariously one but was performed with such comfort and was successful in stealing the show. Arshad is a great veteran actor whose performance is most often memorable.

ii – After such a long time, really enjoyed Ahmer Hussain’s performance at a theatre play. The main reason is by offered to him not one but multiple interesting roles especially the main supporting role as Zubair Mamu. Although I am very fond of his comic roles, which he plays them very wisely. Other Honorable Mentions: Rest of the cast.

iii – The playwright was magnificently improvised by the cast members.

iv – The punch lines and jokes were amusing.

v – Good direction was able to convey the message to audience with ease.

 

 

+ Low Points
i – Since some of the stars were playing more than one character therefore, the change of costumes and props would have made easier for the audience.

ii – Lack of proper costumes / wardrobe for the characters.

 

+ Overall
Kheil, Kheil Meh is an enjoyable play, full of laughter, worthy direction, good performances and effective writing which made its mark.

 

 
Rate: 4.0 out of 5 stars

 

A review on Pakistani comic theatre play, Latri Jo Lafro (2016). It was played in Memoni language.

 

 

+ Crew

• Director is Fraz Chhotani

 

 

 

+ Note

Fraz has acted in a number of NAPA plays including Merchant of Venice, Lao to Qatl Nama Mera, Kuttay and Sau Din Chor Ke among others. He has worked with a number of directors as a Lighting Designer and with Mateela Films as an Assistant Director.

 

 

 

+ Full Cast

1) Nazar-ul-Hassan as Bachu Bhai

2) Farhan Alam as Zubair

3) Hammad Khan as Achchan

4) Ashfaq Ahmed as Haseen Gul

5) Kaleem Ghouri as Bachu’s Partner

6) Faraz Gill as Policeman

 

 

 

+ Plot

It is about two Memon characters, maamu Bachu Bhai and his nephew Zubair. They have lost their entire wealth in the Stock Market crash and owe a lot of money to their creditors, from whom they must somehow need to escape for good.

 

 

 

+ High Points

i – Yet again, an amazing performance by Nazar-ul-Hassan as Bachu Bhai. This guy is unbelievable when he is performing (whether on stage or on screen). He is truly a phenomenon, a wonderful performer.

ii – Ashfaq Ahmed as Haseen Gul played the supporting role of rich Pathan was very amusing. He was the main comic relief character of the play. The audience simply loved his performance especially the Pashto accent that he adapted to deliver his lines. Good job! Other Honorable Mentions: Hammad Khan.

iii – The play started out well, in Memoni language.

iv – The screenplay did a brilliant work in order to exceed the expectations of the audience of their favorite performers, to execute better.

v – The set was exquisitely designed with appropriate props and objects.

vi – The costumes of the characters were very convincing and relevant to the class of these characters’ status.

vii – Kaleem Ghouri was given the most suitable role of Bachu’s Partner (former). Kaleem has his signature move to how he must act upon a given character. It was enjoyable to see him perform.

 

+ Low Points
i – The play was so interesting, sensational performances by the cast members and good direction; I was left somewhat unsatisfied due to average time length was given to carry out the play. Perhaps a sequel to this wonderful play with addition of few new characters would uplift this play from its predecessor.

ii – Regardless how much humorous Haseen Gul character was written, however it is sad to say that we are still dealing with stereotype jokes.

 

+ Overall
Latri Jo Lafro has some excellent performances, incredible comic timing and hilarious punch lines were written…

 
Rate: 4.25 out of 5 stars

A review on Pakistani rom-com theatre play, Izhar-e-Ishq (2016). It was performed at NAPA’s basement.

 

 

+ Crew

• Directed by Taha Khan
• Costume Design & Production Design by Areeba Aqeel Burney

 

 

 

+ Note

Taha Khan is an actor and appeared in the NAPA play Guri Ka Ghar by Zain Ahmed. He has also worked in various short films among which three of them are registered on the international website IMDB.com

 

 

 

+ Full Cast

1) Mazhar Suleman Noorani as Shaukat Sahab

2) Sarosh Baloch as Begum Shaukat

3) Faryal Noushad as Hina

4) Taha Khan as Faizan

5) Anas Bin Uzair as Rizwan

6) Umair Rafiq as Amjad

7) Syed Arsalan as Bakht

 

 

 

+ Plot

It is about a retired govt. officer, Shaukat Sahib, his wife Begum Shaukat with their two sons Rizwan & Faizan and a daughter Hina. Shaukat sahib’s nephew Amjad is coming to Pakistan from USA for a business trip while Mrs. Shaukat desperately wants him to marry her daughter. She is willing to go to any lengths for this mission.

 

 

 

+ High Points

i – Umair Rafiq, Taha Khan and Sarosh Baloch performances were most decent.

ii – The screenplay was overall mild with some satisfactory humor in between fair punch lines.

iii – The costumes of the characters were sound.

iv – The slow-motion sequence with Celine Deion fame song ‘My Heart Will Be Go On’ in the end was a nice call.

 

 

+ Low Points

i – The BIGGEST flaw of the play is that the performance by most of the cast members, especially by Anas Bin Uzair was WAY ‘Over the Top’. He desperately needed a tranquilizer to stop him but it was already too late. Those actors who act comic thinking since they are in a comedy play, therefore they need to look and comic are literally committing SUICIDE on their hard work. Let the situation, the humorous punch lines do the rest of its job and NOT TO ACT COMIC in front of audience.

Rather than blaming the actors, it is the sole fault of the director. An experienced director would know well that in a comedy play, the actors are told to be IN THEIR CHARACTERS ONLY. Neither the director nor the actors realized that the way they were performing is strictly prohibited to do especially in a comedy play. Hence instead of giving great performances in front of the audience, they were actually OVER ACTING.

ii – Faryal Noushad performance was the weakest; kindly work on your acting skills.

iii – If this play was actually written for the children, then I could understand why this level of humor.

iv – The character of Faizan was written poorly, just to make space for one more character.

v – On some scenes, Begum Shaukat walked slowly while in other scenes she walked swiftly in highly energetic manner like a young female.

 

 

+ Overall

Izhar-e-Ishq is desperate stuff; Skip it unless you love childish humor.

 

 

Rate: 2.50 out of 5 stars

 

A review on Pakistani drama-thriller theatre play, Qusoorwar (2016). It was performed at Arts Council Karachi.

 

 

+ Crew

• Directed by Sunil Shanker
• Written (adapted) by Wusatullah Khan

 

 
+ Note

Qusoorwar is an adaptation of Twelve Angry Men (1954) teleplay by Reginald Rose for the Studio One anthology television series. Initially staged as a CBS live production on 20th Sep 1954, the drama was later rewritten for the stage in 1955 under the same title, again for a feature film, ’12 Angry Men’ (1957) and a remake in the year 1997.

Besides this play, there were people from the audience who came forward and complained on the play having the use of excessive adult language (abuses, sex references) in the play which was not only unnecessary but offending for the public to hear it. They suggested or should I say recommended that they should be removed if next time performed.

Clearly, this is not the fault of the writer but of the organizers who held this Adult play at their auditorium. Just like there are films where some of them are not families / kids, in same manner all theatre plays are not written to performed in front of families or kids. They are rated for adult audience only.

 

+ Full Cast

1. Sunil Shanker as The Foreman / Juror #1
2. Wusatullah Khan as Juror #2
3. Fawad Khan as Juror #3
4. Meesam Naqvi as Juror #4
5. Saad Fareedi as Juror #5
6. Ali Junejo as Juror #6
7. Nazar Ul Hasan as Juror #7
8. Joshinder Chagger as Juror #8
9. Ali Rizvi as Juror #9
10. Rauf Afridi as Juror #10
11. Osama Tahir as Juror #11
12. Naveed Kamal as Juror #12

 

 

 

+ Plot

It is about a trial of a young boy who is accused of killing his father. The jury of 11 men & 1 woman are sent into a room where they have to decide the boy’s fate according to the evidence, the witness testimony and trial that took place in the court room. If there is any reasonable doubt then they are to return a verdict of “Not guilty”. But if the votes of the jury are for “Guilty” then it would mandatory to give “Death Penalty” to the accused.

 

 

 

+ High Points

i – The performances by all 12 performers were magnificent! No where can I pin point and say ‘No, that performer didn’t do the job well or gave an under-performance’. Every performer dialogue delivery and punch lines were spoken with their heart out. Everyone did a fantastic job. They all should be proud of it.

ii – The adaptation of the script by Wusatullah Khan is outclass! I was very pleased how realistic the dialogues were kept in the play without declining the quality of it in able to be accepted for a universal audience.

iii – It was well directed by Sunil Shankar. I can assure you that it’s really a tough job to keep interest level high if so, many performers are all present at the same time.

iv – The set design was intentionally kept dark, without any colors. All 12 performers were mostly present together in throughout the play. The purpose was for the audience attention to paid on the 12 jurors rather being diverted at the background.

v – In this play, I have seen these four actors’ performances previously (Syed Meesam Naqvi, Nazar Ul Hasan, Fawad Khan & Saad Zameer Fareedi) and already regard them in ‘Great’ category. The other eight performers were new faces to me including Sunil Shankar.

 

 

+ Low points

i – I am not sure whether to perform off stage (since the present stage does not give you enough access to make another room) is a good decision or not? Could the audience (at far end) view it properly in compare to what they are viewing it on stage?

ii – When the murder weapon is asked to bring inside the room to examine, Juror #1 / The Foreman reaches for the door and opens it (without asking someone outside to open the lock first).

iii – Wusatullah Khan as Juror #2 spoke too softly during his performance. I do understand that his character is written as well-mannered and soft spoken but the audience were facing problems in some of his dialogues.

 

 

+ Overall

Qusoorwar brings the audience to a conclusion to how much difficult it is to be held responsible in finding the accused as “Guilty” even in so-called in ‘Open & Shut’ cases. If the curiosity did not occur in Juror #8, then they would had easily had given their verdict to hang an innocent person till death. Sunil Shankar’s clever direction of this great play adaptation, grand performances, highly thought-provoking thriller that takes another classic play to its true fruition.

 

 

Rate: 4.50 out of 5 stars

 

A review on Pakistani drama theatre play, Dark Room (2016). It was performed in Sindhi language.

 

+ Crew

• Directed by Maqbool Ahmed

 

 

+ Note

This is Maqbool’s directional debut stage play. He has acted in several plays including Dheti Diwarain for NAPA.

 

 

+ Full Cast

1) Paras Masroor as Siddiqui

2) Umair Bhutto as Jamshed

3) Nadir Hussain as Zafar

4) Haider Qadri as Kamran

5) Saddam Hussain as Ismail

 

 

+ Plot

It is about four friends who have recently graduated from college and are desperately looking for work. They are faced with a harsh environment where their youthful ideals are corrupted. One of them refuses to bow down to the corruption and chooses to resist the moral decay that is rotting the souls of the others.

 

 

+ High Points

i – Remarkable performance by Haider Qadri as Kamran. This performance was truly a standing ovation quality. He is one of the two stars of this play who are new to me. Not only did he perform well but even his character was most interesting of them all.

ii – Paras Masroor as Siddiqui performed magnificently. His terrifying act as Siddiqui, as the most matured guy of the group gave the audience chills with his realistic execution. Other Honorable Mentions: Rest of the cast.

iii – The screenplay was excellently written; many good punch lines which created interesting and important point to watch the play in the first place.

iv – The art direction of the stage is properly managed.

v – A haunting, tragic play that is told through the eyes of the struggling graduate young guys.

vi – This is the first play where more than three performers have acted in most praise worthy manner ever.

 

 

+ Low Points

i – I wished this play was performed in Urdu language too with these same cast & crew.

 

 

+ Overall

Only the most hard-edged soul won’t be moved by Dark Room, a heartening play.

 

Rate: 4.75 out of 5 stars

 

A review on Pakistani suspense theatre play, Raat (2016). It was performed in Punjabi language.

 

+ Crew

• Directed by Shumaila Taj
• Sound Designed by Alooha

 

 

+ Note

Shumaila Taj is a graduate student of NAPA while done Master’s degree in English literature from Bahauddin Zakariya University (Multan). She has acted in various plays like Nakal Makani and Dheeti Deevaaren.

 

 

+ Full Cast

1) Akbar Islam as Chacha Karam Deen

2) Farhan Alam as Chaudhry Sher Ali

3) Aqeel Ahmed as Jhalla

4) Amir Naqvi as Bhoot

5) Naveed Kamal as Bala

6) Muhammad Ahsan Ali as Ramju

7) Arthur John as Ashqoo

8) Samhan Ghazi as Patwari Mansha

9) Rahi Siddiqui as Muharar Ghulam Hussain

10) Adnan Anis as Police Wala

 

 

+ Plot

One night a 13 year old girl, Sakina who runs away from her home as her family has accepted marriage proposal from the aged landlord of the village. Everyone try to search for her along the river in the dark that same night.

 

 

+ High Points

i – Great performance by Amir Naqvi as Bhoot. He looked frightening and yet comic in his own way. This is the first time I saw a character of Bhoot on stage who is scared of humans. Personally I liked his performance and appearance as Bhoot a lot. Good work Aamir!

ii – Aqeel Ahmed as Jhalla played the lead role nicely. His character was written as simple and lovable. Other Honorable Mentions: Akbar Islam and Naveed Kamal.

iii – The effective screenplay helped the play to flourish with ease of success.

iv – The set design and lighting were handled brightly.

v – The ending was very moving.

 

+ Low Points

i – I would love to see this play in Urdu language with the same team.

ii – I feel that the play was too short regarding the content is concerned. Since the play was interesting and performances were well put so its time span was rather small.

iii – Due to its short time length, we were unable to meet further new characters or few more interesting scenes, especially of the Bhoot.

 

 

+ Overall

Raat is a tense and entertaining theatrical experience that should keep audience guessing until the very end.

 

 

Rate: 3.75 out of 5 stars

 

A review on Pakistani Drama theatre play, Habib Uncle aka Habib Mamo (2017). It’s an adapted play, originally written as ‘Uncle Vanya’ by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov.

 

 

+ Crew

• Directed by Damyanti Gosai

 

 

+ Note
Habib Uncle is an adaptation from Uncle Vanya (1897) which received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski. Uncle Vanya is unique among Chekhov’s major plays because it is essentially an extensive reworking of his own play published a decade earlier, The Wood Demon.

There have been many adaptations into film and TV series, including BBC TV episode Uncle Vanya (1991) featuring renowned stars such as David Warner, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Ian Holm.

+ Full Cast

1. Muneeb Baig as Habib Mamo aka Uncle Vanya / Ivan
2. Najma Kifayat as Durdana aka Yelena / Helena
3. Nadir Hussain as Professor aka Prof. Serebryakov / Aleksandr
4. Umair Rafiq as Dr. Salman aka Dr. Astrov
5. Aisha Iqbal as Salimah aka Sonya
6. Godina Fernadez as Buha aka Nurse / Marina
7. Imran Fattani as Shareef aka Waffles / Ilyas
8. Roohi Bano as Fakhrunisa aka Mrs. Voynitsky / Maria

 

 

 

+ Plot
A retired professor has returned to his estate to live with his beautiful young wife, Durdana. The estate originally belonged to his first wife, now deceased; her mother, brother still lives there and manages the farm. There they meet old friends, daughter (by first wife) and family relatives including Habib who still has his undying feelings for Durdana… even after so much time has passed.

 

 
+ High Points
i – A wonderful performance by Umair Rafiq. With passage of time, Umair is proving everyone that he would soon stand in the ranks of great artists and his fellow young performers should see him as a moral example for self-improvement.

ii – Roohi Bano played a very different role and performed nicely. Other Honorable Mentions: Aisha Iqbal.

iii – The makeup artist did a good job.

iv – The set design was nicely presented / constructed.

 

 

+ Low Points
i – After knowing who was directing the play, I had very low expectations. And therefore, I was not disappointed.

ii – There was this unrealism feeling throughout the play, as if the cast were told to PERFORM only rather than to be in their CHARACTERS with natural dialogue delivery.

iii – Overall performances by the entire cast was mild at best.

iv – Although the play was shorten to 50 minutes, that is almost half of the play which was performed instead of 2 hours one. No matter whatever the reasons are behind this decision, the real intense scenes are to be seen in the 2^nd half ‘If’ it played out entirely. Really disappointing!

v – For the rest of the cast, kindly pick those roles which are different or challenging while giving good (or above average) performance. Try not to repeat or be stuck in ‘Type Cast’ roles. This would help you to grow and build confidence in yourselves as a strong performer.

 
+ Overall
Habib Uncle is a hard effort to make it closer to the original source… which this play itself is barely watchable.

Rate: 1.0 out 5 stars

 

A review on Black Comedy-Drama theatre play, Dead End (2019). Its Production is by Syna Productions.

 

 

+ Crew

• Production Design, Written (Adapted) & Directed by Sunil Shanker
• Makeup & Hair Stylist by Sikander
• Costume Design by Cherries
• Sound Mixing by N/A
• Lighting by Masood-ur-Rehman

 

 

+ Note
Dead End is an adapted play, originally written by David Mamet, Glengarry Glenn Ross (1983). It won a Pulitzer Prize in 1984. He also wrote its screenplay for the same name film in 1992. It starred ‘A’ graded star-actors, such as Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon and Kevin Spacey. This play revolves around real estate agents who are trying to survive in a brutal and competitive market. The salesmen work at a real estate company called Dream Ambassadors, selling property. This is a crucial month and whoever makes the most sales will win a new car. The competition is on but events take a dramatic turn.

Sunil Shankar happens to be in one of the promising actors of this play as well. In his career as a director, he has executed a number of plays in brilliant fashion, such as Equus (2017), Qusoorwar (2016), Playlist (2019) and Chup (2017).

An important role was specifically written in the film for Alec Baldwin as the character Blake, who is sent by the real estate owners to ‘Motivate’ their salesmen. This is one of the best scenes of the film adaptation. However, Dead End is an adaptation of the original written play only.

+ Full Cast

1. Saad Zameer Fareedi as Darioos Ghaaswala
2. Ali Junejo as Malik Rohaan / Ronny
3. Usman Javed as John Calderia
4. Sunil Shanker as Baber Daud
5. Samhan Ghazi as Ghreeb Nawaz
6. Amir Naqvi as Dr. Taimor Mirza
7. Ejaz-ul-Haq as Inspector Imran

 

 

  

+ Plot
A group of four salesmen are working some the same real estate company, whereas three of them are struggling hard to make big sales or be fired. In such desperate times, a robbery takes place.

 

+ High Points
i – Superb direction by Sunil Shanker. His brilliant plays, one after the another has definitely made me a true fan of his work. There a number of interesting scenes throughout the play. But the most interesting one for me would be of Daud & Nawaz share. It was an insight towards the play’s main plot and a study on salesmen’s human behavior when being cornered. There is no doubt that Sunil is one of the best directors of theatre world. I don’t think that I could ever think of missing any of his plays in near future too.

ii – Once again, a spectacular performance by Ali Hasan Junejo as Malik Rohan. Previously, I have watched perform in Equus and Qusoorwar. In this too, Ali has exceeded everyone expectations on playing a loud mouth, hard talking, smart salesman who uses his quick thinking, to win client’s trust by his charismatic personality to make the sale. A very good choice by the director to choose Ali for this role.

iii – Samhan Ghazi has improved a lot in the last 2 – 3 years. He has constantly worked hard to come to the limelight and has able to grab audience attention with realistic performances. This would be Samhan’s one of his memorable performances to date.

iv – Although, I am a big fan of the film, but I believe that a good effort is been made on its adaptation for this play. It’s the first I have seen in Urdu language, which is very close to original material. The entire play is about the power shifts of the main characters while making sales to undesired, unwilling people. Some of these characters’ powers remain the same till the end while some powers shift back and forth. Only a great writer could understand it properly.

v – Only a great actor like Saad Zameer Fareedi could have pulled it off splendidly as Darioos Ghaaswala. This role was no easy task, needed an actor who could show his character’s ups & downs throughout this two-act play. Saad’s great understanding of the role, had made him to perform it perfectly. Other Honorable Mentions: Sunil Shankar.

vi – A very decent production design was constructed, where three different scenarios are shared on the stage with ease.

 

 

+ Low Points
i – There were some of the performances which were disappointing. Either these actors didn’t understand their characters well or took a new interpretation, away from the original script. The performance by Usman who played the manager position, his acting seemed too stiff, expressionless. I understand that his character is cold & heartless but where a veteran actor as Kevin Spacey performed amazing on-screen, however as for the play, Usman fails to do so. Another performance I felt was weak, was of Amir. His character needed to be played as nervous, unsure character who is unable to stand up against his dominating wife. But in this play, he is shown be much more peaceful and relaxed character. For example, when he walks-in to Ronny’s office, Amir walks so calmly as though have nothing on his mind that is troubling him. I mean, we all know why he is here for. Then what’s the purpose for his calmness?

ii – The first scene of the play, which Usman & Saad have shared. I believe it was a bit longer than required. The message was crystal clear and so was Ghaaswala’s weak situation. For him to give in to John’s every greedy want had became predictable.

iii – Repeated vulgar, toilet dialogues were though intentionally spoken as written in the original content, were hilarious for some time only. But then soon, it was no longer funny or sad to hear it any more. Such words as ‘Crap’ or ‘Shit’ should had remained in English language (even if the play is in Urdu).

 

 

+ Overall
David Mamet’s play takes a new height of success when it is adapted by another genius and names it Dead End.

 

 

Rate: 3.50 out of 5

 

A review on Pakistani Rom-Com theatre plays, Raaz-o-Niaz and Open Couple (2019). This double feature plays were performed at NAPA International Theatre Festival 2019.

 

 

 

+ Crew

• Costume Designing & Directed by Syed Meesam Naqvi
• Written (Adapted) by Kiran Siddiqui
• Music by Nigel Bobby
• Lighting & Production Design by Nisa Karamatullah
• Produced by Method Productions

 

 

 

+ Note

Raaz-o-Niaz is an adapted play by Fared Uddin Ahmed. The original text was written by Raafi Peerzada. The other play, Open Couple is an adapted Italian play, originally written by Dario Fo in 1983.

Syed Meesam Naqvi graduated from NAPA with a diploma in Theatre Arts and is currently a faculty member at NAPA teaching acting. Since his graduation he has acted, directed many successful plays including Dastan ki Eik Sham, Jungle Mein Mangal Bazar, Rehearsal and Dastangoi. Most notable ones are including Kamla, Kuttay, Mujrim Ya Mulzim, Apartment 746 and Raagni.

 

 

+ Full Cast

1. Nazar-ul-Hasan as Niaz
2. Erum Bashir as Raaz
3. Usman Javed as Dost
4. Mohsin Ali Shah as Husband
5. Kiran Siddiqui as Wife

 

 

 

 

+ Plot (Raaz-o-Niaz)
It explores the poetic beauty of two complete strangers finding solace in each other arms and discovering themselves.

 

 

xxxxxxxxx

 

 

+ Plot (Open Couple)

In this mockery of marriage sexual tensions, husband convinces his suicidal wife of keeping an ‘Open Marriage’ relationship. But soon, the tables are turned when she confesses to fall in love with another man.

 

 

 

+ High Points

i – Meesam’s direction has raised eye brows of many senior artists and directors. He is certainly making his way to the top to the high ranks of directors with one after another high graded directorial plays.

ii – An ideal adaptation by Kiran Siddiqui for the Open Couple. The changes that were made worked well with this play’s direction.

iii – I love how the treatment of both plays took place. Its credit goes to both, the writer and director for doing a good job.

iv – Great performance given by Nazar ul Hasan as Niaz. Whenever he is in lead role, a remarkable performance from him no less is expected by the audience.

v – Where was Mohsin Ali all this time? His level of performance shows us a very confident, bold actor who waited for his moment to arrive as to say ‘Apun ka time aa gaya‘! It’s a good decision to bring out him in the open for everyone to see and be entertained by his splendid performance. Other Honorable Mentions: Rest of the cast.

vi – With the brightly lit play, the production design including its props was ideal to conduct both of the plays.

vii – The humor was mostly pleasant and at times very hilarious. The mass audience roared with laughter.

viii – The costumes were appropriate according to the characters and the moment they played their roles in.

 

 

 

+ Low Points
I – Since I have already read the original play of ‘Open Couple’, therefore I know how much sex content there is before its adaptation. However, the audience was not mentally prepared for this. Unlike the first play, the second one had too much open and vulgar comments, actions which made some people even walk out the auditorium. It is suggested to warn the audience before the play takes place.

 

 

 

+ Overall

What makes Raaz-o-Niaz & Open Couple stand out is its extreme commitment to the material, its relentlessly sex-positive approach, and its sneaky talent to be both naughty and savory.

 

 

 

Rate: 4.50 out of 5 stars

 

A review on Pakistani Drama theatre play, Pagla Ghoda aka Mad Horse (2019). This play was performed at NAPA International Theatre Festival 2019.

 

 

+ Crew

• Costume Designing, Production Designing, Written (Adapted) & Directed by Naz
• Written (Original) by Badal Sarkar
• Lighting by Masood-ur-Rehman
• Sound Design by Bhatti & Anil Tahir Azaad
• Produced by Zarq Productions

 

 

 

+ Note

Pagla Ghoda is an adaptation of a Bengali play, written in 1967. It is about hidden truth, true love and dark secrets of four losers who nothing to do then to get drunk and play cards. They have suppressed their tragic memories deep down into their very souls and drink to forget the pain. The underlying theme of Pagla Ghoda is patriarchy in the Indian society and its influences on both men and women.

In this play, every character has a question in every dialogue.

 

 

 

+ Full Cast

1. Saad Zameer Fareedi as Kartik
2. Marya Saad as Larki / Milli / Maalti / Lakshmi
3. Syed Arsalan as Shashi
4. Muneeb Baig as Himadray
5. Mujtaba Zaidi as Saatu

 

 

 

 

+ Plot

A group of four men get drunk while playing cards near a burning pyre in a crematorium. After cremating an unknown woman, they start philosophizing about life in the shadow of death. But what they are actually doing is slowly discussing their lost love.

 

 

 

+ High Points

i – ‘Tara, tara maa…’ a dialogue that is often spoken by the character, Kartik played by Saad Fareedi. Besides his solid performance, the character repeats this dialogue on & on, with an excuse to comfort himself. But personally, what I believe (which was indirectly applied) that the reason behind this would be bringing himself back to the reality from the tragic, guilt ridden past that can never be changed.

The adaptation by the writer of this hit, Bengali play would be cherished with fond memories by the everyone who watched it. If it weren’t for a quality adapted play, even the solid performances by the cast may had not looked that believable or interesting anymore.

ii – Naz’s direction has improved a lot by the given time since she has debuted her entry as a director. I wouldn’t say much now as more of her work needed to be watched before deciding where her directorial plays are heading to. As for now, good work!

iii – No surprise here, Syed Arsalan gives a realistic performance as Shashi, one of the tragic characters of the play. I am very pleased to see him to grow stronger as an actor with his every performance that I be able to witness. If he keeps on improving like this, then it would not be long where his name would spoken among the great stars of our industry…

iv – Marya Saad plays four different roles belong to four separate stories told by the men in their drunken state. Anyone can see that how much energy and hard work she has input to give one of the best performances by any actress given in this festival.

v – A very talented actor, Mujtaba Zaidi gives his best performance as Saatu, who has mysteriously, great fear of dogs. In a way he was a comic relief and one of the four tragic characters that Mujtaba played side by side. Perhaps, from now on wards he should be playing characters in lead roles. Other Honorable Mentions: Rest of the cast.

vi – Instead of praising each and everyone here, the performance by the entire cast is of high praises and are memorable. All performers did an excellent job.

vii – The lighting is properly, effectively handled especially recalling life of the past.

viii – The costume designing is suitable with the roles were given. Thumbs up!

ix – Nice work behind its sound design; helped in creating the ‘Real World’ feel.

 

 

 

 

+ Low Points
i – The different characters played by Marya, should have changed wardrobe as well. People who are not familiar with the play, in the start would see her being the same character linked with all four stories. By having different names, body language or putting up a different scarf is not enough.

ii – Inclusion of a proper original score to be played where it is required the most, such as going back to flashbacks, transition of scenes would benefit the play’s quality.

iii – Being a Bengali play, the accents of the characters that the performers were portraying, were not maintained. This needs to be taken care of.

iv – Further improvisation is needed on the production design. Although, the props were appropriate.

 

 

 

+ Overall

Pagla Ghoda is a rare play, literate, deeply moving and gifted with absolutely overwhelming performances by the entire cast.

 

 

 

Rate: 4.50 out of 5 stars