Actor Yasir Hussain presents comedy play So Suite in Karachi — Dawn
In Karachi, Pakistan, from September 16 to 27, 2026, the comedy theatre production So Suite by actor, director and screenwriter Yasir Hussain was staged. Before its Karachi run, the play had already been performed in Lahore and Multan, Dawn reports.
The play combines dance numbers, rapid-fire lines, flirting, quarrels and comedic situations. The script includes topical jokes about events and well-known people in Pakistan, including cleanliness problems in Karachi, actor and producer Humayun Saeed, TV host Fiza Ali and actor Faisal Qureshi.
Jokes are adapted to cities
Hussain said that some lines are changed depending on the city where the performance takes place. For example, the Karachi production used a ringtone from Hania Aamir's song Pablo, while the one in Lahore was different.
The production continues the style Hussain developed in last year's play Monkey Business: a burlesque, loud comedy with innuendo and responses to current topics. Hussain also spoke about his admiration for the stage dramas of the late Pakistani comedian Umer Sharif, whose main goal was to make audiences laugh.
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Working with actors and the stage
According to Hussain, comic timing is crucial for stage acting, and the construction of individual sentences determines the impact of a joke. He noted that he can now perform live for nearly an hour and quickly deliver one line after another.
In So Suite, the actor deliberately left several scenes to other members of the troupe so they could advance the plot independently and gain performance experience. Hussain explained that during rehearsals he constantly adds new jokes to the basic script and, until the final day, asks the actors whether individual episodes work.
He does not plan to upload the full version of the production to YouTube, as he believes its humor works best live and quickly loses relevance. According to him, during repeat performances several months later, a significant portion of the jokes would have to be updated.
Hussain also described theatre tours as a risky and exhausting undertaking. He noted that a performance may be cancelled because of rain or a deterioration of the security situation in a city, while performers may fall ill and be unable to take the stage.
