KARACHI: It is easy to think of a play that pivots around the always interesting topic of extramarital affair or secretly getting hitched for a second time. But it is not easy to execute it, for the simpler it is, the more complicated it is to present it on stage in a convincing manner. It is on this count that director Shah Sharahbeel’s play You only marry twice, which can be seen at the Arts Council Karachi’s auditorium till April 19, scores high points.

Faisal Mirza (Faizan Sheikh) is a pilot. He has two wives — Fauzia (Muzaina Malik) and Rubina (Maham Aamir). The wives don’t know that their husband is a bigamist. Faizan has a son, Zain (Ahmed M. Agloris), with Fauzia and a daughter, Nida (Aqsa Rizwan), with Rubina. When the play begins Zain and Nida are already friends who got to know each other through the internet and discover that both their fathers have the same name and profession. They want to meet each other.

Upon knowing that his children are going to meet, Mirza gets disturbed. He seeks the help of his tenant-cum-friend Momie (Aadi Adeal Amjad) from the house where he lives with Rubina. Momie is an eccentric character, who willy-nilly helps him out but gets trapped in circumstances that drive him crazy. The situation aggravates with the arrival of his Baba (Saqib Sameer).

You only marry twice is a very well worked-out laugh riot, driven by actors (well, most of them) who seem to be super familiar with the art of comic timing. Of course, they’re greatly helped by some very smart physical moves that augment their performances manifold. For example, when Zain enters Mirza’s house where he lives with Rubina, Mirza buries his face in the couch right on cue, so perfectly that it takes the audience by a pleasant surprise.

But without a shadow of a doubt, it is Aadi Adeal as Momie who steals the show. Yes, he had that kind of a part which is always in the thick of things; however, as they say in cricketing parlance, even a full toss has to be put away. He made his funny lines sound funnier, such as on one occasion when Mirza asks him to keep Rubina busy by telling her jokes, he says with delectable nonchalance, “Saaf lateefey nahin aatey hain” (I can’t tell clean jokes).

If one was hard pressed to find loopholes in the play, then Agloris as Zain needs to work on his intonations. He doesn’t say his lines, he screams them out. Not a bad actor though.

You only marry twice, produced by Aneeqa Khan, is based on Ray Cooney’s farce Caught in the net. It is not clear why the producers haven’t given the name of the person who has adapted it in Urdu because whoever that person is, s/he has done a very good job.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2015

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