Forsaken - Theatrical Review

I have been to Karachi and I have  been to many places in Pakistan but I have never seen such passion and determination of the youth that is breathing in Lahore.  Theatrical scene in Lahore is massive and so is the talent.  There is talent, there is audience and there is passion but in order to bring the audience to your play you need good word of mouth and marketing.

 I heard about the play Forsaken when it was under process.  I knew people from the face who were acting in it and I knew I had to see this play. This play was produced by Mirrors entertainment and directed by Hamza Ghaznavi and Vicky Zhuang Yi-Yin. I have seen plays that have been produced by the mirrors entertainment. They pick up great actors, they have a mind-blowing script but then there is that extra tinch of something that is missing.  I will call it lack of coordination or lack of farsighted ness and ill planning to be exact.

It was 6:30 when I reached the Hall, I picked up a pamphlet that gave insights to the play and it looked promising.  Few printing mistakes that made me giggle. The audience was building up.  I saw families. The Lower portion was full of people but the upper portion was waiting to be filled. By the way this was the last show which I was attending and I wanted to see how much people can they attract because people who end up coming on the last day are usually the ones who have relied on the word of mouth.

The hall management was warm and welcoming and there was this hustle bustle going on. People were whispering and I saw some enthusiastic parents waiting for their children to come on stage. I was expecting a larger crowd .They had some  young singers performing in the beginning to warm up us a little. Good vocals. But they just wouldn’t start the play. The timings are important I believe. I know its very difficult to start a play, a lot of things and stuff is going on behind the curtains at that  very moment.

The play showed the biggest fight of all between the devil and the God.  Great script I must say. It showed how there is evil within us all. How easily we are fooled when our desires take control over us. How easy it is for us to be the puppets of our evil desires, intentions or worldly pleasures. The play brought the devil in front of us. The played show how easy it is for humans to let go of the righteous path and how important it is to not let go of the straight path.

 I am amazed by Hamza Ghaznavi who was playing the devil / Anthony Corleone and is also the director of the play. He had this gangsterish/evilish and devilish touch which was pretty convincing. I liked how he played with his face expressions. It was amazing when he had scenes with the other people. He stood out. His acting was really good. The scene in which the devil communicates with the audience and freezes everything else was remarkable.  If only he had made other characters work on their voice quality and taught them the manners of how to walk on the stage so that their faces don’t disappear, things would have been pretty easier for the audience.

Lightening was great and so were the sounds. I liked the music when they brought it during their acting.  I liked the special song , “ Everything is coming to its place …” that was played during the wedding of Kyle ( Sachel Ghani) and his bride.  Sachel played great as well and Hashim Imran was terrific. Sachel knew how to bring out the charm and make the audience realize that he is in love. Hashim Imran( James) is an actor who can actually pull of anything. I saw him as a friend, I saw him as a guy who wanted to do something in the world, I saw him having love for his father and I saw him when he had those naughty smiles, I saw the worry on his face and when things got bad. I liked it when he comes face to face with the devil.  I was astounded when he becomes the devil. Other female actors were great too but you need to accept the fact that these gentlemen were the best part of the whole play.

I didn’t understand why they wanted so many interruptions during the play. There was lot of curtain closing and opening which made me feel that broke the flow of the play. The set could have been better, If they had shown different backgrounds.  Actors were performing outside the curtain which made me feel a little uneasy. Some female characters were forgetting to face the audience but other than that the performances were great. The casting was wonderful and the evil characters looked evil like hell.
Coffee guy ( jack) played by Ahmed Akbar was actually very sweet. Such a chocolate boy.  Great acting by this gentleman as well.

In short, I liked the play. The reason it did not get the heavy response was because I belive they couldn’t master the small things that I just pointed out above. I loved the play because the script was great. I loved it when the devil took over but I wanted to run away when the other characters came. I would have liked more if they had shown more of the devil action sequences. Other than that, It was a good watch.

Rating 3/5