Non-stop laughter as Arts Council Repertory Theatre Company stages first play

There were only a few brief moments when the sound of guffaws could not be heard after the play, ‘100 Din Chor Ke’, had reached its climax on the first day of its staging at the Arts Council of Pakistan (ACP) on Thursday evening.

The play, an Urdu adaptation of Michael Cooney’s ‘Cash on Delivery’, is a farcical comedy involving deception and mistaken identities creating chaos everywhere. It has been directed by Zeeshan Haider, who has been heading the theatre department of the Arts Council.

Before the play began, Haider informed the audience that 100 Din Chor Ke is the first play being produced by the Arts Council Repertory Theatre Company. He announced that the company intended to stage at least four plays in a year.

Arts Council President Ahmed Shah also spoke on the occasion. He lauded Hyder for forming the repertory theatre company at the council. He said the ACP would also form a talent company to ensure that talented actors of the city always had work opportunities.

The play is about a middle-class man Amir Hasan (played by Fawad Khan) who after losing his job has decided not to tell his wife Samra (played by Komal Hayat Veerji) about his unemployment. In order to meet his expenses, he gets himself registered under a fake name with a government social welfare institution for monetary help.

However, this one deception leads to another. And soon he has to use his gullible tenant Irshad (played by Nazarul Hasan) to cover his frauds. Irshad has to assume various identities such as that of a deaf painter as well as of a woman in order to satisfy an NGO worker and representatives of the government social welfare organization, who all visit their house together to verify the claims of Hasan.

Fawad Khan and Nazarul Hasan are undoubtedly one of the finest thespians working today. The success of the play depended on them and they proved their mettle. Especially, Hasan stole the show.

The other cast included Muneeb Sheikh, Muhammad Ghous, Ghulam Mohi-ud-din, Sara Taqi, Alina, Hassam Irfan and Sheryle John. The play will run until December 16.