Fortune favours the bold

The play's dialogue was met with approval by audience as it incorporated popular references from films, everyday life.

LAHORE: Theatre is all about experiments, and if it works then you get a round of applause, if the experiment goes south then at least it’s a learning experience.

Sabz, an ongoing Urdu musical play at Alhamra is an experiment that paid off. The musical starts off on comedic notes but takes on a serious stance. The play’s director Abdullah Farhatullah took on his real life role in the play as he portrayed Kami, the director in the play who the script revolves around.

Kami wants to be a reputable director and is aiming to produce a serious play. He believes that people want to watch credible plays that are based on social issues but the owner of the studio, Rana (Raza Shah), thinks differently and wants Kami to do a play with item numbers which he believes is the only way to make a profit in the theatre business.

In his play, Kami has employed three main characters; funny and careless Naveed, played by Yasir Hussain, serious Mansoor (Mauz Raja) who is concerned about his acting skills and the modern Roshni whose role was taken on by Jannat Nekokara. Kami’s assistant was played by Qudsia Sajjad.

As director, Kami puts in a great deal of hard work and effort to ensure that his play is credible and just when he feels he has achieved this, he is told by Kami to change the script and include some item numbers in the play. The desolate Kami finds support in Naveed who encourages his director to follow his beliefs and go ahead with the original script. On the day of the performance the two tie up Rana and perform Sabz, a play which invokes patriotic feelings and sends out a powerful message.

The play’s dialogue was met with approval by the audience as it incorporated popular references from films and everyday life. References from Bollywood were received with thundering applause and showed how pertinent the Indian film industry is in Pakistan. On one occasion, Naveed is told to stop singing by Mansoor who says, “Yar tu to Himesh Reshammiya say bhi bura gata hai.” (You sing worse than even Himesh Reshammiya).

The play also contained several references to Indian and Pakistani film stars and had dance performances to four Indian songs. It was interesting to note that despite Indian songs not being allowed to be played or performed at Alhamra, they were not met with objections because according to the director they were ‘situational songs’.

On a positive note, the play must be commended for its choreography which was excellent and the acting of Yasir Hussain was exceptional. On the down side, the lighting could have been improved as it was predominantly red throughout the production.

Sabz will continue at Alhamra till January 11.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2011.