How ironic that a theatre-group called Kopykats should come up with an original comedy theatre play, titled Come Again, at a time when adaptations and inspired plays are the rage. It was well-executed for the most part, and aside from the fact that it could have done with some chopping to make it crisper, and was by and large entertaining.
Opening with a Bollywood-style item number – Sheila ki jawani – in which young dancers in glittering outfits immediately grab the audience’s attention, the so-called female lead dancer threw everyone off-guard as she was so obviously male. Mercifully, the next scene explained it all: it was a depiction of a dream featuring Sammy (Yasir Hussain), the transvestite friend of Zak (Shafqat Khan) and Auzie (Uzair played Dawar Mehmood).
The scene opens on Auzie’s bachelor pad, an apartment that is sponsored, like everything else around him, by his rich fiancé, Zara (Shanze Razzak). Natti, (Marvi Baloch) runs away from her psychotic fiancé, Anwar (Talal Jilani), and seeks refuge in the apartment much to Zak’s pleasure and Auzie’s chagrin as Zara has a jealous and suspicious nature. To make matters worse, her disapproving father (Hassam); Auzie’s uncle, Mamu Chohan (Omer Sultan), who is unaware of the engagement; Sammy’s khala, aunty Tara (Hareem Farooq) and Anwar show up at various moments, sending the beleaguered Auzzie in a tizzy pretending that there is nothing amiss. Two hours of farcical comedy, some lewd jokes and another Bollywood number, Accha to hum chaltay hain, follow before a twist in the plot brings the play to an unexpected ending.
The stage appropriately depicted an apartment complete with a kitchenette, split-level lounge area boasting sofas, beanbags, wooden chairs, lamps and vases. There were some issues with the sound the day we went to see the show, as every now and then some dialogues would be inaudible, but the light handling was deft throughout.
Well-acted by the entire cast from Falsafi (Usman Ali Khan), the houseboy, to the protagonists, it is Talha Zubair as Sammy who steals the show with his seemingly effortless performance. Also worth mentioning is Hareem Farooq as the khala. The script written by Talal Ubaid is to be commended for its originality, although one felt that the gay jokes could have been downplayed a bit. The choreography by Wahab Shah who has been displaying his prowess recently in quite a few musicals was slick, and although the second dance unnecessarily lengthened the performance, it was nonetheless, entertaining. Dawar Mehmood directed the play like a professional one hopes that audiences will be treated to more plays from him on a regular basis.