KARACHI There's something wonderful about seeing old faces in a new setting. Karachiites who have been attending Napa Repertory Theatre plays in the past 18 months or so will recognise many cast members of 'Loan-ly in Love,' a new play by the Rung Munch theatre troupe, running at the PACC from December 3 to 7. Four of the five actors are Napa alums, and they do their teachers proud.
The play itself is an adaptation of Anton Chekov's 'The Bear.' But don't be put off by the thought of restrained or anachronistic Russian drama. Babar Jamal's script is contemporary, funny, and well paced. Audiences will enjoy punch lines that take digs at generals past and politicians present, Blackwater, right-wing media personalities, the sugar crisis, celebrities, and, yes, even the Kerry-Lugar bill. Admittedly, there are some scenes in which the jokes become a bit overbearing - a wife complains that her husband ran the household like a dictatorship, not a democracy - but for the most part, the humour is fresh.
It is these political asides, clever double entendres, and naughty slips of the tongue that enliven an otherwise familiar plot. The play begins with Begum Zareen - the bitter widow of Colonel Ashiq Hussain - complaining about her philandering husband who passed away five months ago, leaving her up to her eyeballs in debt. She thinks the worst of her problems is that Gulzar Jan - an over-eager, bumbling friend of her late husband's - is trying to woo her. But Gulzar's clumsy flirtations are put into perspective when Hussain's second wife, a fashionable media maven, turns up to claim the property. To add to the chaos, a retired army general also arrives at Zareen's home to claim the one million rupees owed to him by the late colonel.
The young cast keeps up the play's momentum and generates good on-stage energy. Ali Sheikh, who plays the retired major, steals the show. When he initially appears, he borders on caricature, his straight-backed demeanour and booming voice a predictable portrayal of a military man. As mayhem ensues, though, Sheikh's character undergoes several transformations - he is convincingly violent, disarmingly charming, and unexpectedly goofy, yet never seems out of character. At some points, Sheikh loses nuance because he shouts, rather than delivers his lines. With a little more restraint, he would come off as extremely compelling.
Sheikh is well balanced by his peers Ovais Mangalwala in the role of Gulzar manages to ham it up without seeming cartoonish or becoming irritating. Bakhtawar Mazhar, playing Zareen, delivers a natural and confident performance, transitioning well between being stern and acting slapstick. And Rauf Afridi, in the role of Zareen's servant Miskeen, has spot-on comic timing.
One wishes Pirah Qadir had delivered a stronger performance. She is meant to play a vixen - capable of intimidating retired army generals and distracting Gulzar from his pursuit of Zareen - but is tentative, self-conscious, and stiff. The scene in which Zareen discovers her husband had a second wife should have been comic, climactic, or both. Instead, it falls a bit flat.
Other than a few such snafus, director Uzma Sabeen pulls off a solid performance. The play's physical comedy works, characters pull laughs with well-timed entrances and exits, and a Brechtian sense of humour - that breaks fourth wall and acknowledges the play - adds unexpected irreverence. For theatre-goers who have recently felt that Napa is taking itself too seriously, this play will come as a refreshing change.
