Mary Poppins comes to Islamabad
Local Saturday, May 31st, 2008A version of West end classic
The local version of the ‘soar away hit’ of West End classic ‘Mary Poppins’ was truly a ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ version presented by Channel 7 at Islamabad Club Auditorium opening on Thursday. The first day was a house full affair with a large number of families and young ones thoroughly enjoying the ever popular blockbuster on their own stage.
From the special word of Mary Poppins that still floats around as a super linguistic addition to theatre arena, to the unique magical World, and also the smooth performances of the cast members matching the original scores with superb ease, the play have managed to make a place among the successful theatre list staged in Islamabad so far. Though the young director Faheem Azam claimed it to be among his first solo ventures, the vibrant blend of superb performance and magical stunts with a unique set design surely takes the state of stage plays higher with the art technology added to create the magical ambiance, making it all a triumph of spectacle and theatrical flair of the joyous show with Mary.
‘Mary Poppins’ is an award-winning Disney musical based on the similarly-titled series of children’s books and the hit Disney 1964 film.
The story rotates around in the London of 1910; the Banks family has a loving, if rather chaotic, household. It all starts when the children’s nanny Katie Nana storms out in a huff, fed up with the “incorrigible” children, Jane and Michael. Mr. Banks writes an advertisement for a new nanny and the children compose their own, which he tears up and throws into the fireplace. The pieces fly up the chimney, where they reassemble for Mary Poppins who is sitting on a cloud. The next day, a great wind blows away all of the nannies waiting to be interviewed, as Mary floats down. A magical, musical nanny brings a breath of fresh air into the stuffy Banks household in turn-of-the-century England. The children face surprises of their own: Mary possesses a bottomless carpet bag, and makes contents of the children’s nursery come to life and tidy themselves. Overstuffed with gaiety, this children’s fantasy is filled to the brim with wonderful dance numbers as they are taken into a journey of playful worlds and eccentric characters, eventually showing them and their cold-hearted father the power of love over money. Her work done, Mary Poppins takes to the air with a fond farewell from Bert.
Faheem Azam, the 27-year-old director is also an actor, along with his keen interest in theatre, film and business management. He can go a long way if he continues his dedication in theatre. The scene of Mary Poppins floating down from the sky and landing on the stage, and the magic world speaks volumes of his commitment towards good theatre.
Faheem also directed the play ‘It Runs in the Family,’ played the assistant director to Shah Sharabeel for the play ‘Dally in the Dark’ and also performed the lead role in ‘Accidental Death of an Anarchist’.
Both lead female casts were perfect with their ‘pretty and petite’ appearance and flawless performance. Urwa-tul-Wusqua as Mary Poppins was wonderful and picture perfect for the role and sometimes felt like a mini-version of Julie Andrews — the original Mary Poppins in the movie. Urwa is not new to the stage as we have seen her playing a journalist, Maria Faletti, in ‘Accidental Death of an Anarchist’. The director is right to say “Urwa gave the character much more than the rosy cheeks and no warts”.
Mawra as Mrs. Banks also kept the surrounding alive with her charming appearance, acting out with passion and grace.
Shafqat Khan as Bert is the actor who played the lead in ‘Come Again’ and again was seen as the hilarious bad guy, the superintendent in ‘Accidental Death of an Anarchist’.
Viewers also remember Raheel Cheema playing the role of the constable in ‘Mary Poppins’ as Detective Pissani in ‘Accidental Death of an Anarchist’. He plays the constable with perfect harmony between himself and other characters of the play, especially the children.
However, Ahmed Sajjad as Mr. Banks was a perfect choice for the role. He was as spontaneous as Uncle Chauhan in ‘Come Again’. His role as Mr. Banks would be remembered for a long time.
And then one can’t simply ignore the youngest casts of the play for their superb performance as Jane and Michael, the Banks’ children. The ‘cute and cuddly’ Lyla Abbas Bilgrami as Jane and Ins-e-Yazdan as Michael managed a bright and bubbly magical performance, never forgetting any line, neither fumbling through any dialogue. Both youngsters are a superb addition to Islamabad’s talent pool.
Yasir Rehmat Hussain as the Devil and also the choreographer has already proved his presence on stage as a top actor playing Sammy in ‘Come Again’ and then acting in ‘Bombay Dreams’ as Dolly in Islamabad and Sweety in Lahore. “Yasir comes back to Islamabad to prove himself as the best choreographer. And he’s done that here in the limited time that I gave him. He has got an invincible sense of humour and never limits himself to one genre of comedy. Making people laugh seems to be his fuel for life.”
Among other cast and crew members, S M Maaz as Ellen, Tipu as Mr. Dawes Senior, Sheharyar Rahim as Dawes Junior and also doing the important part of editing the play, coordinator Maria Qadri, stage manager Anam Abbas, prompter-sounds Shiraz Manzoor, dancer Shoaib Amin, Majid Soofan, backstage team Daanish Farhan U. Qureshi, Haroon Rajput, Shahbaz Rafique, and Ans Ahmad worked devotedly and efficiently as a team that is bound to bring success to the play.
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on May 31 2008. Filed under