When it comes to theatre comedy, who doesn’t like to laugh to relax after a long day?
theatre
December and January are two pleasant months for Karachiites. This mild winter season of the city allows them to indulge in festivities and to enjoy chilly weather. One gets to see lots of happenings going on - parties, weddings, functions, art exhibitions, shows and theatre plays.
When it comes to theatre comedy, who doesn’t like to laugh to relax after a long day?
Comedy is a genre of literature and it is referred as a dramatic work and most importantly, it comprises a happy ending. It is amusing, entertaining as well as satirical in nature. Based on the context and the source of humour, comedy is categorised into three types such as farce, burlesque and satire. For ancient Greeks and Romans, a comedy was a stage-play with a happy ending.
Recently, Karachiittes were treated to a farce comedy play ‘100 Din Chor Kay’, staged at Arts Council Karachi from 8th December to 16th December. Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Directed by Zeeshan Haider, ‘100 Din Chor Kay’ was an Urdu adaptation of Michael Cooney’s ‘Cash on Delivery’. It’s interesting to note that ‘100 Din Chor Kay’ was the first play produced by the Arts Council Repertory Theatre Company. Haider announced that the company intended to stage at least four plays in a year - good news for all the thespians and theatre lovers.
The play offers two hours of non-stop entertainment and has all the ingredients for rib-tickling hilarity. The laughs only get louder with more amusing characters and a series of hilarious events. The play revolves around Amir Hassan (played by Fawad Khan) who has lost his job but doesn’t dare tell his wife Samra (played by Komal Hayat). In order to avoid the discomfort of telling the truth, he invents a clever way to cheat the welfare authorities into sending him money, claiming fake benefits. However, things take a u-turn when Nadeem Farman (played by Muhammad Ghaus), a government welfare employee, visits Amir’s house for verification. This gives Amir panic attacks and he uses his naive tenant Irshad (played by Nazarul Hasan) to cover his lies and frauds. However, this one deception leads to another. Irshad, who gets entangled into Amir’s lies, has to invent ridiculous lies of his own. From there on, we are introduced to different colourful characters and a series of comic situations that makes one laugh nonstop. We get to see Nida (played by Sheryle John), an NGO worker who is relentless in her zeal to help, whether it is needed or not. We also enjoy the character of Durdana Raja (played by Sara Taqi), Nadeem’s sharp and intelligent boss who arrives at Amir’s house in order to resolve this mayhem.
Most actors in the play are trained and professional ones. Fawad Khan is a graduate from NAPA (National Academy of Performing Arts) whereas Mohammad Ghous, Komal Hayat, Sheryle John, Sara Taqi, Muneeb Sheikh (aka Mamoo Bashir) and Ghulam Muhiuddin (aka Dino) are all studying theatre at Arts Council Theatre Academy. Though, all the actors performed very well, it was clearly Nazarul Hasan who stole the show with his natural wit and brilliant performance in different roles.
Watching ‘100 Din Chor Kay’ was an absolute delight. It is hoped that in future too, we get to see more light-hearted plays from Arts Council Repertory Theatre Company.
-Erum Noor Muzaffar
