KARACHI: The Odd Couple is, arguably, the most popular play written by American playwright Neil Simon. First performed in the 1960s, it has been staged countless times all over the world with a variety of adaptations, and a film and a TV series based on its script have also been made. Pakistan, too, has had its fair share of Urdu translations. Since it’s a comedy with a rib-tickling storyline, the audiences have generally liked it.

The latest version of The Odd Couple directed by Arbaz Sheikh and penned by Babar Jamal, which concluded its three-day run at the Arts Council on Sunday evening, was also a decent effort. It made the audience giggle and laugh in equal measure.

The production was part of the council’s ongoing School of Visual and Performing Arts (SOVPA) alumni series.

When the story begins, four friends are seen playing a game of cards (though it’s not specified what game they’re playing). One of them, Bablu (Mohammad Reza), wants to go back home early because he needs to take his wife to a wedding. This makes him the butt of the other three’s jokes. One of the friends, Danish (Asad Gojar), whose apartment they’re in, is a divorcee, who needs to give a certain amount of money to his ex-wife on a regular basis for their child that she’s raising.

Directed by Arbaz Sheikh, the play completes its three-day run at Arts Council

While playing and throwing witty one-liners at each other, all of them inquire about another friend, Gullu (Osama Ranjha), who hasn’t yet turned up to play. In the midst of it all, Danish receives a phone call and they find out that Gullu’s wife is not happy with the marriage and is getting a divorce. This makes the men to conjecture whether Gullu has tried to harm himself because usually he comes to play on time. But after a while Gullu comes in. He looks sad and sullen. He doesn’t know that his friends are aware of his impending divorce from his wife. Gullu doesn’t seem to accept that the marriage is over and keeps acting silly.

Once the other friends leave, Danish offers Gullu to stay with him in his apartment. He agrees. And from here on follows another kind of struggle because both are diametrically opposed characters. For example, one is a klutz and the other can’t tolerate unclean atmosphere.

The Odd Couple, as has been mentioned, has situations that you can’t go overly wrong with. There are many moments in Sheikh’s version which are funny. Reza as Bablu was particularly convincing as a jittery husband. But a play in which movement matters a lot, you require a larger space to allow the actors to manoeuvre in. A smaller area gives a compressed look to the story. Of course, this is no fault of the director’s.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2026