KARACHI: Original plays are a hard-to-find act in theatres these days and most of the ones that do make it to paper don’t get the chance to be performed on stage. Experienced playwright and actress Kulsoom Aftab’s Investigation cell is one such ‘lucky’ play that got staged.

The two-act play was staged on Saturday and Sunday at T2F and revolved around the lives of three individuals who were arrested and brought to an investigation cell, hence the title. One of these people claimed to be Barack Obama (Vajdaan Shah), another was a burqa-clad fanatic lady (Asiya Alam) and the third was a playwright (Kulsoom Aftab).

The officer (Faizan Chawla) asked each of them about their crimes and when they all denied doing anything wrong, brought in their alter egos (Sabiha Zia, Mujtuba Rizvi and Muntazir Mehdi) who helped him in solving the problem in the second and final act.

The best part of the play was the direction by Kulsoom Aftab who also wrote the script, besides playing the ‘playwright’. The clash between the ‘modern’ woman and the ‘radical’ one, the dance sequence between Obama and the playwright were something to enjoy but everything faded in front of the actual interrogation where hard-hitting questions and bold answers shocked even many in the audience.

Some of the actors have performed in different plays but Asiya Alam and Vajdaan Shah looked their part — as a conservative woman and a wannabe Obama, respectively. The way the former delivered her dialogues was brilliant and even made a few in attendance uncomfortable; Vajdaan Shah and Mujtaba Rizvi complimented each other while giving a realistic touch to the dialogues.

The theatre circuit in the country needs original plays if it wants to stay alive in the era of films and TV.

Investigation cell is the first original play by Kulsoom Aftab to be staged — after four separate tries. One hopes more potential playwrights out there are given a chance to polish their scripts and get them performed as soon as possible. After watching Investigation cell, one thing is clear: there is a lot of talent in Pakistan waiting to be tapped.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2017