Thespian Shah Sharabeel’s latest theatre production Twins Apart premiered at the Karachi Arts Council last night. While it marks the director’s return to stage after a few years, it also features actor Umer Naru’s theatre comeback with this Urdu musical.
Having performed onstage abroad in the critically acclaimed Taming of the Shrew at the Globe Theatre in 2012, Umer essays the lead role of Esa in Twins Apart.
Speaking of his character, Umer states in a press statement, “I’m playing one of the two brothers, Esa; he is a person with a pure heart and has been brought up by an upper-class family. He grows up to be an aspiring musician. The character is relatively subtle; he is calm and collected, which makes the character challenging to portray convincingly.”
Umer, who also played a key role in Sarmad Khoosat’s period drama Mor Mahal, is of the view that theatre is full-time labour.
“We rehearse at least 8 to 9 hours on weekdays and 10 to 12 hours on weekends,” read the press release. “There is no time for anything else. I have been exhausting myself to sleep for the past two months and I love it.”
Produced under the banner of Stage Nomads, Twins Apart follows the lives of twin brothers who were separated at birth and were forced to live away from each other. The play is currently running at the Arts Council in Karachi and will also head to Lahore and Islamabad in the coming months.
