KARACHI: The promotion poster for the Pakistan Theatre Festival 2023 play Love @ 70 has a fuming aged woman pulling at the sehra of her groom, who himself is being pulled towards the other woman whose scarf he isholding on toforlife.
The hilarious scene itself must have been the reason for pulling a huge audience to the main auditorium of the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi, on the 29th and penultimate day of the Festival here on Saturday. When all the seats were filled, they occupied on the auditorium steps.
There is Khushi Mohammad, a widower, who never got married after losing his wife. Now his son, Naheed Raza, is all grown up, and upset at being given a girlish name.
Meanwhile, his grandparents are still around and quarrelling all the time over little things.
Enters a pretty young thing, Parveen, pretending to be a new neighbour. She is actually looking forthe grandson. A sidekick of the grandfather, Ramzan, also enters. He wants grandfather to get married again, despite the grandmother still being very much around. He also has a match, Mukhtaran.
This Mukhtaran is a modern woman. She comes over to check out the grandfather. But Khushi’s childhood friend Ashiq runs into her. He quite likes her.
There is also Khushi’s sister Allah Rakhi, and her ever-suffering husband in the play.
The play obviously has characters aplenty. And all, in their silliness, are running around helter-skelter and crashing into each other or falling down here and there evoking much entertainment and laughter.
The news about grandfather’s decision to get married a second time becomes known to all. Khushi Mohammad and Naheed Raza can’t believe it.
A fake Mukhtaran is arranged by Naheed Raza. They sing duets until the fake Mukhtaran notices the grandmother and dumps the grandfather.And in all this Parveen is brought in by Naheed Raza. He airs his wish to marry her. But her being a working woman is an issue for Naheed Raza’s family.
Allah Rakhi comes back sobbing.
She says her husband wants to divorce her. That issue is settled. The grandfather also takes back his decision of remarrying.
And then at the right time and the right place enters the real Mukhtaran.
She is actually interested in marrying the widowed Khushi Mohammad, not his father.
With the misunderstandings cleared, the play ends on a happy note.
There is a standing ovation from the audience amid thunderous applause as the cast Sanhan Ghazi, Asad Gohar, Hammad Khan, Saima Khan, Zaeem Naseeb, Komal Hayat, Adeel Sohail, Ayaz Ali, Rimsha Usman and Farhan Rahim takes a bow.
The play is an Urdu adaptation of Matchmaker, written by Thorton Wilder. It has been adapted by Syed Ghadeer Tabish Rizvi and directed by Azaib Khan.