"Shoqer Daddy": A comedy confronting the escape from time

Yasser Al-Aila

Caught between denying reality and fleeing into a late-stage adolescence, the “Qorob Al-Balam” duo returns with the play *Sugar Daddy* to serve up a rich comedic feast. It does not merely elicit laughter; it strips away the veneer of reality, holding up a satirical mirror to the family. How did the duo of Hassan Al-Balam and Ahmed Al-Aounan transform a session of magnetic hypnosis and the slogan “My hair is white, but I’m fit” into a profound social lesson that touches the wounds of our contemporary lives?

The play (written and directed by Abdullah Al-Bader) centers on the character of “Noah” (Hassan Al-Balam), a retired man who refuses to acknowledge the passage of time. He exhibits childish, adolescent behavior that provokes the anger and frustration of his wife (Fawz Al-Shatti) and his children (Ahmed Al-Najjar and Jana Al-Faylakaoui). Faced with this stubbornness, the family turns to the uncle (Ahmed Al-Aounan) to salvage what can be saved. He decides to refer Noah to a psychiatrist (Mohammad Al-Rumadhani).

From here launches the play’s primary and fantastical dramatic thread. Noah undergoes a “magnetic hypnosis” session, during which he experiences a state of imagination while asleep. He imagines himself as a “Sugar Daddy,” surrounded by girls of every shape and beauty. He even imagines traveling to the city of Marbella in Spain with a younger female friend, portrayed by the artist “Shabnam.” Accompanied by his friends, he eventually discovers that everything he experienced and witnessed was merely a fleeting dream, and that in the end, he must live his real life.

The performance was interspersed with musical numbers in which the cast members amusingly imitated several singers, earning enthusiastic audience interaction and applause. Hassan Al-Balam imitated the “Star of the East,” Umm Kulthum, in one of her famous songs, mimicking her style and performance. Fawz Al-Shatti imitated the artist Haifa Wehbe in the song “Biddna Naroq.” Mohammad Al-Rumadhani brilliantly imitated the legend Michael Jackson. Abdullah Al-Bader imitated the artist Rashid Al-Majed. The duo of Ali Al-Husaini and Mustafa Ashkanani imitated the singer Fadel Shaker and his son Mohammad in the song “Sahhak Al-Shouq.” The entire cast excelled in a musical and dance tableau performed in the Upper Egyptian dialect, which was exceptionally well-received.

The artist Hassan Al-Balam (Noah) delivered a distinguished performance relying on behavioral and physical transformation. He excelled in transitioning between the role of the fifty-year-old, adolescent father in reality and the role of the affected “Sugar Daddy” in the world of dreams. Ahmed Al-Aounan (the uncle), as usual, served as the “safety valve of comedy,” employing naturalness and the “difficult ease” of comedy through his verbal quips and cold, sarcastic expressions. Zahra Al-Arefat shone remarkably in her acting, delivering a conscious performance. She adeptly navigated between two characters: the doctor (wife of the psychiatrist Mohammad Al-Rumadhani) and the wife of the artist Ali Al-Husaini. Fawz Al-Shatti (the wife) excelled in portraying the wife shocked by her husband’s adolescence, delivering a balanced performance that combined jealousy, love for the family, and a remarkable flexibility in matching the comedic situations. Mohammad Al-Rumadhani (the psychiatrist) was the actual driver of the fantasy and transformation events in the play, with his performance distinguished by high flexibility and caricatured comedic coloring. Ahmed Al-Najjar and Jana Al-Faylakaoui (the children) formed a promising youthful energy, authentically and spontaneously portraying the children’s shock at their father’s behavior. The artists Abdullah Al-Bader, Ali Al-Husaini, Mustafa Ashkanani, and Shabnam Khan also delivered their roles with natural, spontaneous, and smooth ease.

Despite the comedic success, the work is criticized for some “shots” and jokes by certain stars of the show that were not well-received. This is particularly true of the segment featuring Ahmed Al-Aounan and Hassan Al-Balam, in which Al-Aounan criticized “Noah’s” mother in the play (dramatically intended to be Al-Aounan’s sister in the play, not Hassan Al-Balam’s actual mother). This scene provoked the anger of many, prompting artists Hassan Al-Balam and Ahmed Al-Aounan to step out and provide clarification.