KARACHI: The National Academy of Performing Arts’ (Napa) annual Karachi Laughter Festival will be held from Jan 9 to 26, it was announced at a press conference on Monday evening.

This year, the event will showcase three plays, each staged for four days, from Thursday to Sunday. The first that will be put up on Jan 9 is titled Good Luck Darling. Directed by Napa graduate Farhan Alam, it’s a story penned by renowned humorist Athar Shah Khan Jaidi.

The second, to be presented for the audience from Jan 16, is called Wapsi. It’s an Urdu adaptation of a Noel Coward play Blithe Spirit helmed by another graduate of the academy, Zarqa Naz.

The last offering is the Urdu version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, titled Beech Bahar Ki Raat Ka Sapna. Staged from Jan 23, it’s directed by Meesam Naqvi.

Three plays on offer during festival

Addressing the media, the artistic director of the Napa Repertory Theatre, Zain Ahmed, said it’s the third laughter festival that’s being organised. The three plays presented are completely different from each other. The academy tries to provide opportunities to its alumni to come forward and display their talent. The previous two editions of the fest were very well-received.

Describing his project Alam said the best thing about Good Luck Darling is that it’s an original, Pakistani play. The topics that the writer has touched on in a lighter vein are very important.

Naz said Wapsi revolves around a novelist who invites a psychic to his place. Things get botched up and the ghost of his first wife shows up while the second wife is around. This creates two worlds on stage: one that is in front of him and the other that’s not; and both have similarities.

Naqvi praised Khalid Ahmed’s adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and said that he had read the play as a student; ever since he has been fascinated with the story. He has tried to gather an ensemble cast and do the play with a strong ‘movement’ aspect to it.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2020