STUMPED!!! A full swing and miss

The latest play by NAPA is a treat for die-hard cricket fans, with a few hits and misses.

KARACHI:

Getting stumped is by far the most comprehensive dismissal in the game of cricket. Rather, it is more like a magical illusion; the bowler throws a ball that deceives the batsman with its flight and movement, lures him to come forward and attempt a shot only to make him realise that he has missed it by an inch and the bails have been dislodged by the keeper. If it’s a close call, then you wait for the third umpire to decide the batsman’s fate or else his heart sinks and he leaves the pitch disappointed. It is a rather dramatic experience.

Was this done to perfection in the National Academy of Performing Arts’ (Napa) latest play titled Stumped!!!? Not really. Instead, it was more like watching Kamran Akmal keeping the wickets for the Pakistani team — where he misses a lot of chances but then finally manages to collect the ball through a rare opportunity and dismisses a batsman from the crease within a fraction of a second; much like the play itself. Just as Akmal’s touch of brilliance is rare with the hope of a better performance, with all its aesthetic brilliance and a well-crafted plot, the play Stumped!!! turns out to be a touch rusty. To put it in cricketing terms, the actors needed to spend a little more time in the nets before the day of the match because the lack of practice [rehearsals] and chemistry is clearly prominent despite the theatrically engaging story telling.



Written by Imran Yusuf and directed by Zain Ahmed, the play revolves around Chicu (Sunil Shankar) the captain of the Kabristani cricket team. Chicu is all set to fix the world cup final between Kabristan and India that is supposed to take place the following morning. He invites the young star bowler of the team, Sam (Hammad Khan), to tell him to play against the team as the match has been fixed. Sam now faces a dilemma of whether to fulfill the dream of bringing Pakistan some glory or follow what his captain has asked him to with obvious financial gains. Faani (Rauf Afridi) who is the other star of the team declines Chicu’s offer of becoming a part of the plan and chooses to play for the team and for the hopes of Kabristanis. What follows is an engaging tale of politics, conspiracies, sentiments and existential dilemmas.



The best thing about the play is that after a long time we have an original Pakistani play with a fresh subject relevant to our national psyche which also makes a framework well-suited for theatre. It is relatable to all cricket-playing nations. Yusuf has cleverly merged the audience’s sentimental expectations from the game with the rawness of what actually happens inside the dressing room. This bittersweet combination of hopes and fears is what makes it an outstanding documentation of our impulsiveness as a nation and above all a journey worth having as a viewer.

However, acting is what Napa’s plays have always been known for and rightly so because of the amount of attention given to every aspect of a performance. Unfortunately, Stumped!!! falls short of that element. The performance was lacklustre and under-rehearsed.  This is the main reason why the initial scene between Shankar and Hammad does not build up to the ideal crescendo that one is expecting. Perhaps Hammad was cast more because of his youthful personality and looks, as the essence of his character does not really translate on the stage as it is supposed to. Afridi dominated the stage throughout the play as Faani, while Shankar’s wickedness as Chicu comes to the rescue occasionally. All in all, with the fumbles and improvisations, the performance on the whole is a half-cooked meal.

Successful use of stage space and the highlights of Pakistan’s popular matches as transitions were where you could see Zain’s theatrical genius going the extra mile. However, some unnecessary cursing and needless movement on the stage diverts the audience’s attention from the plot for a while. Overall, the director manages to make you stick to your seats with only four characters at hand.



VERDICT: Although a touch rusty with slightly unpolished performances, Stumped!!! is a must watch for all cricket and theatre enthusiasts.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2013.                    

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