The comic case of mistaken identity

Even the most morose of citizens must have laughed their sighs out on Friday evening while watching a play at the Karachi Arts Council depicting scenes from the English countryside and the comic case of mistaken identity. There was hardly a moment when the hall was not resounding with the merriest of laughter of the audience.

The play, “Date Night”, has been put up by the Lahore-based Lashari Brothers, who have become well-known names in the world of theatre in the city, after having staged a number of English language productions, which took Lahore by storm.

The plot pivots around a hotel in the English countryside. It is two people with the same surname, Smith, which adds punch to the whole plot. They check into the hotel in different rooms. Soon, one of the Smiths is visited by a very freewheeling woman, Sally, most deftly played by Mahnoor Khan. She checks into Roger Smith’s room.

Later, another lady, with a very matronly bearing, Helen (played by Sheherzade Noor Peerzada), checks into the hotel and doubles up with a Geoff Smith. Both couples are lost deep in romancing until through a series of slapstick happenings, it transpires that the two ladies are actually the wives of the two Smiths and, through a case of mistaken identities, have landed up with the wrong men. Roger Smith’s wife ends up with Geoff and Geoff’s with Roger. 

It’s after over ninety minutes that the whole plot unravels after a whole lot of comic, slapstick happenings.

While all the cast put up a highly adroit performance, Shaan Lashari, as the hotel official, Ferris, really stole the show. His comic antics, plus his perfect English with the intonations characteristic of the English while they speak, gave a really precise rendition of his role. Listening to him deliver his monologues, none could really believe that he was not English. His was a really refreshing comic performance.

Mahnoor, as the slender, attractive Sally, also put up a highly adroit performance. She really injected life into her role. 

The most commendable part of it all was the perfect English of the cast. Except for at one point where Sheherzade Noor Peerzada says “more safer”, the rest was absolutely perfect. Allowance could be given for such an error to non-native English speakers.

How one really hopes such performances would be more frequent, especially for a city like Karachi, where the terribly disturbed civic conditions are turning the populace into virtual neurotics.