The Eastern Musical Theatre performance titled Umer Marvi was a musical act with story narration of an ancient Sindhi love story. It highlighted the glorious tradition of a composite culture of the land of Sindh which is vast and varied in its greatness.

The folklore of Umer Marvi has survived centuries because of its archetypal dimensions. Popularised by the renowned Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, it is a soulful folk tale which elucidates the essence of true love which is considered to be a crown of Sindh's invaluable heritage.

Who better to transport a primordial tale to present century than director Faisal Malik of Thespianz Theatre who looks at things in a different way. To start with, the script was well-written and the performance maintained a good pace throughout, containing all the indispensable elements of a musical opera performance except the live music.

'We wanted to keep the music live and approached Tina Sani and Abida Perveen to engage them for a live performance but the dates could not be set. Both the artistes were preoccupied and we could not afford to extend the performance dates that had already been announced.'

Originally, the story of Umer Marvi hails from the district of Tharparkar in Sindh. Marvi is the daughter of a poor goatherd from a small village, leading a simple life with her father. She has an immense love for the desert and the people around her. She falls in love with her cousin, Khit, a brave and handsome young man from a neighboring village.

The area then used to be ruled over by Umer Soomro, a man known for justice and also his fondness for beautiful women. When Umer sees Marvi, he desires her so much that he wants to have her at any cost. Umer proposes marriage and tries to attract and win her with jewels but to no avail. Enamored by her dazzling charms and infuriated by her refusal, Umer decides to finally kidnap her.

Meanwhile, terribly upset with Umer's atrocities, Khit asks the portents to lodge a complaint against Umer but they oppose it as they know that they are too poor to be heard. Khit then disguises himself as a dervesh and goes to Umerkot where he stays at a shrine outside the city and soon his reputation spreads like wildfire. Umer also comes to him seeking his help to win the love of his beloved Marvi. Later, Umer arranges a grand feast where Khit's friends serve a poisonous drink to him. After his death, Khit wins Marvi back.

Although there were no backdrop changes, it was a well-managed stage with reasonably positioned props. The set was well-painted and a traditional well, cart and a home made of straw gave the true feeling of a Sindhi goth. The costumes had been well-researched and satisfied the demand of the characters. The dance numbers were well-choreographed by Wasif M. Khan.

What the audience particularly seemed to enjoy was the selection of songs which blended with the story and characters to bring more relevance to the theme such as Chap tilak sub chen, Tere ishq nachaya kar kay thaiya and Yaar ko hum nay ja-baja dekha. Nusrat Fateh Ali's Mein toh piya se naina laga aaye re and Rahat Fateh Ali's Lage tum se munn ki lagan was also weaved into the storyline.

There were a lot of new faces in the cast, and they all worked well together. Ali Raza as Khit was impressive, Maria Zahid as Marvi was good while Umer Malik as Umer Soomro was just the right choice for the character. Umer's friends were well-played by Asif Maqssod and Fauzan and their coordination was superb. Among the young performers Sany and Uzma fascinated the audience with their dance moves ranging from classical styles to a modern feel involving a lot of improvisation, and full credit goes to the chorographer.

A feel-good musical theatre with balanced content, Umer Marvi was spellbinding enough to woo the audience at the convention centre of the DHA Country & Golf Club in Karachi. Minus an overtly intricate script or a huge costumed melodrama, the musical retained the promise to be different than the otherwise run-of-the-mill commercial fare.

What makes Faisal different than his contemporaries is the way he makes changes to the original story to create a feel as if it's meant for modern times. 'This show is unlike any other for its operating techniques are way different.

There is so much music and dance with no dialogues that the story is being communicated to the audience with narration in the background with the support of the musical score which makes the job much more difficult.

'Theatre produced today is either too vulgar or incredibly serious, and just too difficult to comprehend. We aim to bring about a change by bringing true family entertainment to masses that they can relate to. Also, the changes that we make to the original stories and scripts are to involve audience and to make them feel as if they are a part of it.'