Raucous, part-slapstick, partwit and side-splittingly, maddeningly funny with Monkey Business, TV and film actor and writer Yasir Hussain has brought in a new wave of comedy to Pakistan`s sparse theatrical landscape.

It isn`t an entirely new genre. The burlesque humour, the cross-dressing, the song-and-dance trysts, the crazy plot twists and the whiffs of innuendo will be familiar to those amongst the audience who grew up while the late Omer Sharif was ruling the stage. Yasir Hussain Monkey Business writer, director, actor and co-producer (along with Asiyah Majeed and Sajeel Meer) admits that it was his aim to bring back this particular flavour to the local stage.

`I always thought that it was unfortunate that there was a certain sector within Pakistan who wasn`t familiar with Omer Sharif`s work,` he says. `He was a genius, popularising a format that was pure hilarity.Monkey Business is my way of celebrating his humour. I could never imagine matching his [Omer Sharif`s] wit, but this is just my effort to bring back some of the same kind of humour back to our stage.

The play, says Yasir, was written carefully, catering to a sensitised audience who wants to have a good time, but has a penchant for being politically correct.

`There are no political jokes because I didn`t want to hurt anyone`s sentiments, he says. `I have been very particular about the wardrobes worn by the female actors,because I didn`t want to invite unnecessary critique. Also, there is dancing but it`s not by women.

`When I work on a musical, the men and women will both dance on stage but, right now, it wasn`t required in the story. No one can go off and say that I have tried to make my play a hit by making girls dance! We are dancing in Monkey Business because our characters have no choice but to do so at that particular point.

He makes this final statement with a straight face but, conversing with him after watching the play, it throws me into a fit of laughter. The madcap romp ensuing on stage doesn`t really need to be explained in such detail. It`s a fun watch, like a drink of icy cold water offered to you on a particularly humid day, not meant to be over-analysed, allowing you to just laugh and laugh away.

Sure, the two main characters enacted by Yasir and Umer Aalam cross-dress and start dancing to Bollywood item songs, and it all just fits into the nonsensical twists and turns that make Monkey Business so entertaining.

Seasoned thespians often talk about how they feel particularly rejuvenated on stage when the audience responds to their dialogues. In that case, I am sure the Monkey Business entourage is having a great time, playing to an audience howling with laughter.

I mention this to them, as they slap on greasepaint, preparing for the next show.

Bilal Yousufzai, another pivotal member of the cast, says, `It`s a new audience every day. They laugh at different jokes. It doesn`t get boring even as we go and say the same lines.

Produced under the joint banners of Inkorporate Digital and LOIQ Films, the cast and crew of Monkey Business consists of some seasoned thespians and some up-and-coming ones, all turning to the proscenium arch more out of passion than lucrative aims.

There is Yusra Irfan, a theatre enthusiast who recently made her TV debut in Kashif Nisar`s Dil Wali Gali Mein, Bilal Yousufzai and Khizr Ansari who are familiar faces from Kopykats Productions` theatrical ventures, Umer Aalam who made his stage debut with Kopykats` Siachen and has gone on to become a familiar name on TV, Osama Bin Atig who dabbles with TV acting and has made his stage debut with Monkey Business, Abdullah Wahab, an actor hailing from the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) who has also just started working in TV, and Hafsa Bakhsh, working on stage for the first time.

`I have been working in theatre since I was very young and it was only recently that I ventured on to TV,` says Yusra. `I had to step away from two theatrical productions because of my TV commitments and, once I was done, I knew that I had to return to the stage for oxygen! Yasir says, `Actor Naseeruddin Shah once said that an actor whose career started off from stage and then proceeded on to film and TV still needs to keep coming back to theatre now and then for oxygen.

Right now, in Pakistan, there is no proper market for theatre nor is there a defined market rate. Actors invest extensive time and effort into a theatrical play and get paid a fraction of what they would earn from TV. If their kitchens are running from their TV earnings, then they can come to the stage for the sake of their passion.

Perhaps, soon, theatre will also become lucrative, I suggest optimistically.

`Perhaps, but so far, I have felt disappointed, says Yasir. `There is only one company, Dawar Mehmood`s Kopykats Productions, that has been regularly putting out productions and earning profits.

However, they continue to work only for themselves, not extending their umbrella to provide a platform to other directors. If you are such a regular producer, then you need to start building the industry by providing opportunities to others.

`More plays could have come up in this way, new actors and directors would have got opportunities, theatre could have boomed in more cities. Kopykats Productions continues to be a single entity and how much work can a single entity do?`He cites an example: `Yash Raj Films became big because, aside from its founder Yash Chopra, so many other directors were working within its realm.

If theatre takes off for me, I would like to direct one play myself every year and oversee two or three directed by others.

`It`s difficult,` agrees Yusra. `Yasir bhai started working in theatre 22 years ago and he says that it is just as difficult staging a play now as it was then.

Yasir explains, `We are supported by the Arts Council of Pakistan and the Alhamra Arts Council in Karachi and Lahore, respectively, but in Islamabad, the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) is charging a huge sum for staging the show for just one day. If I sell a corporate show there, after taxes get cut off and I pay the various costs, a large sum from whatever I have left will have to be given to the PNCA. I want to take this play to Islamabad and I really want the PNCA to support me.

Are there also plans to take Monkey Business to Dubai the Indo-Pak diaspora is likely to enjoy the on-stage antics, especially the Bachchan references and Bolly wood music. `We would like to,` says Yasir, `but we need investors to step in.

The word of mouth surrounding Monkey Business has been extremely positive, with tickets selling out fast. A small cantankerous lot, however, has had issues with certain aspects of the show, such as the infusion of Bolly wood music and jokes.

`These are all cultural references that we have all grown up with,` points out Yasir. `We have all watched these movies, listened to these songs. There are people that laugh and clap when my character talks about a certain flop movie.

Bilal Yousufzai adds, `It`s become very difficult to do comedy in these times because people`s tolerance has decreased. When we are on stage, all we`re hearing is laughter! The few jibes in the script at the entertainment fraternity remind one of Yasir Hussain`s impromptu banter when he hosts awards ceremonies. One joke is about Umer Aalam who is, in fact, on stage at that point. Have any of their peers minded and has Umer, particularly, minded? `Such jokes are very few and no one has taken offence. And why would I?` laughs Umer, whose comic timing on stage is brilliant. `Yasir bhai has pointed out a truth that I have wanted to say out loud for the longest time.` He continues, `I work in TV consistently but returning to stage with Monkey Business has reminded me of how much I miss it.

`There is so much in this drama; comedy, pointed remarks regarding the rights of minorities and royalties for artists, dance and song ...` chimes in Osama Bin Atiq.

It all comes wrapped, of course, in a laugha-minute, nearly one hour and 45-minute long bonanza. What also works well for the show is that it is completely different from the `other` theatrical comedies that have become popular over the years, produced by Kopykats Productions with the scripts penned by Anwar Maqsood.

In Monkey Business, the wit, the jibes and the craziness are quintessentially Yasir Hussain. The actors perform well but he is the star of the show.

The borderline politically incorrect jokes are also in his signature style it wouldn`t be a Yasir Hussain project if it didn`t make people sit up and ruffle a few feathers! I am reminded of past conversations with Yasir, where he would talk about refusing to take on scripts that he wouldn`t like, even if that meant working less frequently and earning less. Perhaps the way forward for him is to come up with scripts of his own, following his particular vision.

His TV drama Paradise has only started airing recently and he has a film in the works but Yasir says that, should Monkey Business break even, he plans to stick around in the theatrical circuit. It could make going to the theatre a lot more fun.