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Playing Picasso
The debut venture of an amateur theatre group going by the name of The Drama Queens (there are more males than females in the cast), their play Picasso at the Lapin Agile was quite professionally handled at their performance in Karachi.
A Steve Martin play — in fact his first full-length drama — the plot revolves around an imaginary meeting of great minds — the geniuses of the 20th century, Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso and Elvis Presley — before they have made their mark on civilization (or as in the case of Elvis, after he has made his mark in the future and travels back in time).
As one can very well expect from a confluence of varied geniuses, sparks fly before recognition of one another’s abilities. The play’s strength is its highly philosophical dialogues and incisive commentary on life, wrapped in witticism. The pearls of wisdom are remarkably reminiscent of Imran Aslam’s caustic take on society, except that instead of racy one-liners, each actor has long, amusing dialogues to deliver.
With a Parisian bar as a backdrop, the set is elaborate and impressive, with a well-stocked bar counter; serving tables and chairs, complete with red table-cloth and paintings on all the walls. The costumes are in keeping with the times (the play is set in 1904) and seem to have been meticulously designed.
Opening with Freddy, the owner and bartender of Lapin Agile (played by David Ford) in conversation with Gaston, a Frenchman (Wajahat S. Khan), the play starts off on a slow footing. Comes 25-year old Albert Einstein (Haisom Minhas) who has asked a lady to meet him at the Bar Rouge, but who is convinced that she will show up at the Agile instead - and she does! — and the play picks up.
Momentum gathers as Germaine, the waitress and Freddy’s girlfriend who is habitually late (played by Nadya Habib) arrives on the scene. Considering that there are no intermissions in the one hour, twenty minute long play, nor any change of scenes or hilarious, comic movements, it is to a large extent the constant coming and going of the various characters on stage that saves the play from becoming monotonous, its amusing dialogues notwithstanding. Hence, the arrival of Suzanne (Sanam Agha) who has been Picasso’s love-interest in the past and shows up at the bar reputed to be frequented by him in the hope of meeting him once again; Picasso himself (Fahad Mirza) who wears his libido on his sleeves; Sagot, Picasso’s art dealer (Mohsin Siddiqui); Schmendiman, an inventor (Arsalan Malik), Elvis Presley (Shayan Hazir), Schmendiman’s admirer (Maliha Ismail) and the countess (Asma Ahmad) all not only help nudge the plot forward but also provide comic relief.
While the entire cast acted well, the dialogue delivery of Minhas in particular was superlative. He did an excellent job as Einstein and had the audience in stitches. Shayan too, as Elvis, was perfect, albeit a little heavy for the role of the superstar in his prime, and his obsession with his blue suede shoes was highly appreciated.
Kudos to director Huma Yusuf for drawing the best out of her cast. On the whole an entertaining play, the only grouse I had with it was the unnecessary use of obscene language (like four letter words). While such kind of vulgar banter might be the norm among today’s younger generation, it is still not acceptable to many people, and as such should be avoided in public, particularly when it in no way hampers the progress of the play.
Humour for a cause
Gripps Theatre is back again with a new tongue-in-cheek performance, this time titled Jolie Ke Peechey Kia Haey. As always, the first performance of their show was sold to uphold a cause, this one being for an organization that has so far maintained a low profile — HOPE — and which has been working steadily for the betterment of health and education of women and children.
Coming to the performance, while much of it was in keeping with what one has come to expect from Imran Aslam’s political satires, there were a few deviations from the norm, some palatable and some not so. For starters, this time round it seemed that the cast was not too well rehearsed, for even the inimitable Sajeeruddin as Jiyala was fumbling with his lines and jumping his cues. Opening in the traditional style with Jiyala’s soliloquy full of political jibes and dry humour, there were quite a few gems to relish in the monologue though, such as the snide remarks targeting Angelina Jolie - such as ‘What protocol for a tomb-raider!’ and ‘Her tight clothes did not stop her circulation’.
Obviously, the US of A was not spared either - ‘Our relationship is like gola kebab - with strings attached’, but mercifully, other than one stale internet joke, effort seemed to have been taken to adhere to originality this time, and there were no repeats from the previous performances.
However, while it is great to be able to laugh at oneself, there is a fine line between what is humorous and what is off-colour. Crude jokes about your country’s icons, particularly those who are dead and gone, are not in good taste, and should be avoided. As such, the caustic references to Madame Noor Jehan’s numerous pregnancies somehow did not go down well, although everyone appreciated the jibe on Adnan’s overweight — Zeba Bakhtiar is writing a bestseller - how I lost 300 pounds in one day’.
While Faiza Kazi (as Madame Bay Shareef) and Ayesha Sheikh as Ashwarya Rai didn’t put in any earth-shattering performances, the two members of the cast that do deserve special mention are Khalid Anam and Ali Saleem. The former played the role of President Musharraf and although his dialogue delivery left a lot to be desired, his make-up, costume and mannerisms were perfect. Ali Saleem, of course, stole the show, this time round not with a performance of Benazir but of Meera. Attired in a pink chiffon sari, complete with a bob haircut and manicured nails he looked every bit the part he was playing, and his imitation of her — ‘The court is in your ball” — was superb.
The end was a bit of an anti-climax, for usually Gripps’ performance culminates with a passionate, conscience-awakening patriotic speech followed by a folk dance with the entire cast participating. This time, there was a pleasant change in the sense that the play actually ended on a happy, optimistic note but just as Meera and Jiyala stood poised for dance, there was a foul-up with the music. Ultimately, as Ali Saleem decided to give up on the dance and began to take his bow, the music came on, and there was confusion as to whether the cast should just bow out, or carry on. Finally, they decided for the latter option, and the performance ended with ‘Meera’ at her graceful best.
With Gripps performing on a regular basis and a large number of NGOs now depending on them to generate revenue for their work it would perhaps be in order for the group to infuse more fresh ideas and perhaps even characters in their performances. No one would like to see a good act wasted for want of variety and creativity.—S.R.
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