Written by: Areej Ahmed
Posted on: December 05, 2019 | 
A Pivotal Scene from 'No Question' (photo credits to the writer)
This year’s “Young Directors’ Theatre Festival” kicked off at the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) Karachi, much to the delight of play enthusiasts all over the city. This annual festival, named “Sada-i-Nau” , was held between 30th November and 1st December. This year’s festival consisted of five plays by five first time directors, who adapted diverse pieces of literature and film into a performance. As always, this festival gave an opportunity to NAPA’s finest graduates to showcase their talents and organize a large scale festival for the public to watch and enjoy. The last play in this year’s line-up was “No Question”.
“No Question” was a theatrical adaptation of Stuart Hazeldine’s “Exam” , a psychological thriller that dealt with themes like discrimination, competition, and cooperation. Directed by Irfan Bardai and translated by Rahim Khan, “No Question” opened to a packed auditorium. The cast included Muneeb Baig, Bazelah Mustafa, Faraz Ali, Shabana Hassan, Zohair Zubair, Safia Balaisha, Salman Raza, Emaan Ansari and Shoaib Abdullah .
(L to R) Shabana Hassan, Faraz Ali and Bazelah Mustafa (photo credits to the writer)
The play revolves around eight candidates, in what appears to be an employment assessment. They have 80 minutes to find the correct answer and be hired by the firm. However, at the start of the exam, their invigilator lays down three rules that they cannot break under any circumstances: the candidates must not speak to the invigilator or the armed guard at the door, must not ruin their paper intentionally or unintentionally, and lastly, they cannot leave the room. After laying down the ground rules, he asks them if they had any questions, and then leaves them to their test.
As the story unravels, the candidates begin to figure out and experiment with the various loopholes around the invigilator’s rules. They reach the consensus that in order for everyone to be employed, they must work together. However, due to the lack of trust and information about each other, there are opportunities for them to ruin the other’s chances to be employed. Such a story deeply resonates with how the corporate world forces people to take drastic measures to advance in life. It also points out how the powerful can make a game out of people’s lives.
Safia Balaisha as Brunette (photo credits to NAPA)
However, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the play was the build-up, and breakdown of the human psyche. The play becomes more violent and intense as it unfolds. The audience does not just wonder about the solution to the exam, but also how far the candidates would go to get the job. And each person was named after a physical attribute that would lead to some sort of judgment or prejudice like, “Blonde,” “Black”, “Deaf” etc.
Such a complicated plot could have only been executed through the energetic and commendable performances from the actors. Their feverish movements around the stage gripped the audience’s attention, never making it feel like the stage was empty. However, at times, it was difficult to understand the script due to the frenzied movements of the actors. Some of the most notable performances included Bazelah Mustafa, who was exceptional at conveying her emotions and her pain to the audience. Both Muneeb Baig and Faraz Ali were also successful in creating a love-hate relationship with the audience.
Zohair Zubair as Black (Left) and Muneeb Baig as White (Right) (photo credits to NAPA )
The wardrobe was especially well thought out, while the stage had the grim setting of an examination hall or a tense job interview, to which the audience could easily relate. Lighting was also brilliantly done; there were several parts of the play, in which the actors directly had to react to the lights inside the room, or the lights brought drastic changes to the character’s behavior.
“No Question” was a gripping and thoughtful way to end the Young Director’s Festival. The audience could relate to at least one character in the play and root for him/her, and that is a testament to the fine art of storytelling, an art that NAPA has helped create and promote in Pakistan’s theatre scene.
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