The King’s Men

And all the plays it has showcased yet

The King is surely not James I and the troupe of actors also does not consist of Fletcher, Shakespeare, Burbage, Phillips, Heminges, Cowley etc.

And it is neither a playing company of 17^th century nor possess a theatre like The Globe. ‘The king’ is maverick Imran Khan who won the Cricket World Cup for Pakistan whose price is still being paid by the nation with little or more interest.

The man from Mianwali is the sole creator, producer and director of present day The King’s Men (Reborn) — company or party – with whatever name you may call it. When raised from the scratch with few comrades from Lahore, the king had little to stage with not-much-trained actors; therefore, the king himself was the sole performer in his early-written-and-directed plays like The Dark Tomorrow, The Corrupt Elite and Nothing but Justice.

He won only applause and claps but no votes in bags. Sloganeering continued for years but the well-constructed scripts of plays, performed with too-much conviction and enthusiasm, paved no ways for the king and his meek men.

Then comes the time when he presented The Messiah. Welcoming the General, he started seeing a hidden reformer behind the khaki uniform. The versatile director of the new play supported an unconstitutional referendum and enjoyed proximity with the real king of that time. The old creative works like The Dark Future, The Corrupt Elite and Nothing but Justice had also not been shelved and were being staged from time to time.

Then he introduced two new plays: The Satanic West and Holly Warriors.

The Satanic West stirred the emotions of the folks in wake of US-lead war in Iraq and Afghanistan but The King’s Men failed to steal the show as many other Men like Qazi’s, Fazal’s etc were in the market showcasing similar plays with nearly identical scripts and dialogues. Holly Warriors play has been the most notorious presentation of The King’s Men and its staging was stopped until very recently in the wake of APSC tragedy. ‘Taliban should be allowed to open their political offices in Pakistan’, was the most famous and most controversial dialogue, at the same time, of the play.

Apart from domestic audience, international viewers launched ‘censorship scissors’ campaign against the play. Before the whole play could be banned like Fletcher’s The Woman’s Prize of 1633, the king diluted the harshness of his script. King’s own men also advised him to be aware of the religious zealots as they might prove Puritans for The King’s Men (company) banning the staging of plays till the Restoration.

As mentioned earlier almost every job, from writing to direction, revolves around the all-rounder leader but occasionally he may take help from others, particularly if they wear khakis. Being a convinced ideologist he failed to sell his stuff; therefore, opted to become a tactical populist. With his brilliantly convoluted mind, he thinks he can produce more popular pieces than Aaron Sorkin did.

Next, the king and his men staged The Boycott in 2008 but it flopped badly inflicting huge losses to the company (party). The company had gone habitual in directing tragedies and histories when in 2011, a powerful king-maker became the patron of The King’s Men and the years of its plague came to a much-prayed end.

This was the time when The King’s Men was actually reborn. The king-maker employed more actors for the company and also refined direction and production capabilities of the self-proclaimed king with no empire. The first play staged in October 2011, named The Tsunami, stunned the audience. Many superstars applied to join The King’s Men and long queues of sidekicks set the pace for the company.

Immediately after The Tsunami, The Dry Cleaner came to the surface. All dirty characters of Pakistan politics were converted into being paak. “How can we bring a revolution if the police employ baton against us”, is a famous dialogue of The Tsunami. The two plays were still pulling the crowds when 2013 approached and brought with it two new productions, The Temptation and Naya Pakistan.

At Pakistani box office they could do but little wonders as the rival productions, especially The Return of the Tiger, outclassed them. But The King’s Men somehow succeeded in stealing the show in capricious Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. After little hesitation and break due to physical immobility of the king after an on stage accident, The Custom of the Country was staged in which opponents were accused of theft and robbery.

Much Ado about Nothing has been the widely and frequently played show of the company as the actors have special talents for it. The King’s Men, possessing command on all genres, decided to present melodramas The Dharna and Go Nawaz Go and succeeded in staging them at Constitution Avenue Theatre. Some critics named them A Game of Chess.

The longest play presented by The King’s Men also featured hired actors from Canada and Lal Haveli. After initial sensational thrill, the audience started objecting monotony, noisy-music and annoying performance by guest actors who gradually starting taking the high seat of director as well. The climax was not in sight and funds were depleting. At last, curtains were dropped and the mystery plays came to a much-expected tragic end. Since the rebirth of The King’s Men, funds have never been an issue for the company as the actors and spectators pooled the money to keep the ship sailing.

The Captain Finds Companion amused the tired spectators a few weeks later. A freshly staged play, The Conqueror, at Karachi Theatre has also sunk in sea water. The incumbent actors are fast losing charm and the monotony of the plots and dialogues can ruin the prospects of The King’s Men. New themes, new actors and new plots are badly needed to keep the ship afloat as repackaging of old plays like The Dharna, The Dhandli etc can lead the interesting audience to a boredom syndrome.