Noises Off makes it to Lahore

LAHORE: Theatrical scene in Lahore is going to go English with the staging of Noises Off, a 1982 play written by English playwright Michael Frayn.

Production Illusions has come up with the enactment of farcical comedy which starts its five-day run at Alhmara today.

The play is a difficult act to pull off, however the Noises Off team is quite optimistic about the success of their venture. Omair Rana, the leading force behind the play, said, “This is the toughest farcical play I have done so far”. The play has been performed in Lahore nine years ago and was directed by Salman Shahid then. Omair Rana was a cast member in Shahid’s production.

Omair Rana said that he had a wonderful team to work with and all the artists did their best. He agreed that Lahore had limited viewership for quality theatre but hoped that the ‘zinda dilan-i-Lahore’ would love the play. “We have to create a culture of buying tickets to watch good theatre. Here in Lahore people are in the habit to watch plays without buying tickets. This has to end and Noises Off will create space for high-end theatre,” he said.

When asked why he decided to go for comedy Rana replied, “The first thing is it sells and the other important factor is that we need to make people laugh”. He said that the play was all about comedy and even those who didn’t understand English would be able to enjoy it.

Describing the difficulties that he had to face to bring this play into final shape he said that the Alhamra bureaucracy was a problem. “We couldn’t do our technical rehearsal yesterday because there was problem with lighting. Meanwhile this hall will be given to some other party for a Mehfil-i-Naat or something,” he said. He said that they had to hire the hall and would have to pay 60 per cent entertainment tax.

According to Rana, the performers in the play have started taking on their character’s traits.

“There is a character who stammers while speaking and the actor has actually started stammering!”

Ian Eldred, one of the actors, said, “It is a wonderful play and my experience has been amazing”. Fazeelat Aslam, another cast member, told The Express Tribune that it was a very refreshing experience to work with such talented cast. She said that the hard work would show on the stage.

Mina Malik Hussain said that she had been directing plays for the last four years and knew how difficult it is to perform a farcical play. She said that the play isn’t just a comedy, and that it conveys a message as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2010.