KARACHI The veteran players of theatre group Katha have resurfaced in the metropolis after a lengthy sabbatical. Having recently staged Mein adakara banoon gi, their first performance in several years, the group is now ready to stage Kahaniyan, a set of three short plays that will premiere at the Arts Council on Nov 21 and run till Nov 25.
The theatre group organised a preview of the three plays — Lottery, adapted from Anton Chekhov's The Lottery Ticket, Aunty, based on a Henry James piece and Aik Subha, based on a play by Spanish brothers Serafin and Joaquin Alvarez Quintero — recently for the media.
All three plays clock in at around 30 minutes each. In Lottery a housewife (played by acclaimed thespian and Katha mainstay Sania Saeed) obsessed with the lottery starts off by sheepishly telling her husband (senior actor Saleem Meraj) that she has purchased a lottery ticket —again. The husband, perturbed by his wife's obsession, scolds her for chasing hollow dreams of winning the lottery.
But when it is discovered that the wife actually purchased the winning lotto ticket with a payoff of Rs10 million, the couple go through the roof and can hardly contain their glee. Both launch into song and dance routines and start daydreaming about how they will spend the loot. However, things take a twist when the husband realises that the ticket was purchased by his wife after all and ultimately, he shall have to share the booty with her.
Both actors put up a solid performance while the energetic pace of the play coupled with the witty exchange of snappy dialogue keeps the audience engaged.
In Aunty, two college friends (Farah played by Sania Saeed and Rachna played by Fizza Zehra) meet up eight years after they have left school. Both are now working women; Farah has had a string of failed romances while Rachna's marriage has ended up in divorce. Now roommates, Rachna's sobriety is in stark contrast to Farah's mawkishness.
Rachna time and again warns her friend to get her life together, yet Farah keeps on ignoring her roommate's advice. Things come to a head when Rachna confronts Farah about the latter's relationship with a much younger man.
Aik Subha is set in a park, as two senior citizens (a grandmotherly Sania and cranky Ehteshamuddin) initially squabble over a park bench.
However, the quibbling gives way to flirtation and as the plot thickens, it emerges that both old timers have more in common than they thought.
All three plays — translated and directed by Shahid Shafaat — are fast-paced and the dialogue delivery is quick and humorous. The plays don't dwell on any deep philosophical themes, while they certainly do not fall within the category of fluffy entertainment either. What we have here are three genuinely well-acted performances that highlight those mundane aspects of life that perhaps we do not give too much attention to. Perhaps most importantly the plays do a good job of portraying the intricacies of interpersonal relationships.
Overall the Kahaniyan are rich in detail and colour and add another feather in the cap of the Katha crew.
