‘Largest theatre festival of Pakistan’ kicks off at Arts Council

With a large number of veteran drama artistes, theatre practitioners, foreign dignitaries and government functionaries gracing the occasion, the Arts Council of Pakistan inaugurated what it claims to be the biggest theatre festival in the history of the county — Pakistan Theatre Festival 2023 — on Friday evening.

The one-month festival, which will end on October 8, features a total of 45 shows along with theatre-related discussions and workshops. A total of 27 theatre groups of Pakistan as well as seven groups from foreign countries, including the United States, Germany, Iran, Turkiye and Sri Lanka, will participate in the grand thespian event.

“Although drama is currently happening everywhere in the country, this festival is quite unique,” remarked satirist Anwar Maqsood in his signature wit as he introduced ACP President Ahmad Shah at the inauguration ceremony.

Shah said he had completed at least 16 years at the ACP, and during this time, the council started its grand events like the Urdu Conference and Youth Festival.

He said he had also faced criticism from certain quarters for holding a theatre festival when the country was facing a severe economic crisis. He said the circumstances were indeed grave but it did not mean that people should stop living and enjoying.

The ACP president expressed gratitude to all the partners and foreign dignitaries present on the occasion. He also thanked veteran actor Usman Peerzada and others who had specially come from Lahore to attend the festival.

Later, Sindh Governor Kamran Khan Tessori echoed similar views in a somewhat depressing talk in which he conceded that we had collectively failed the country as it was evident from the economic mess from which we had no clue how to rise.

On a lighter note, Tessori differed with the earlier remark by Maqsood. He said the politicians would surely defeat the professional actors in any competition because they had more time to rehearse acting on daily talk shows on television lasting for multiple hours.

The governor ended his talk on an optimistic note by reciting Urdu couplets on the theme of hope and determination to overcome adversities.

Punjab Governor Baligh Ur Rehman also graced the inauguration of the theatre festival. He was full of praise for the ACP for holding such cultural events. He, however, said that he would have been happier had there been some Seraiki play as well in the schedule.

First plays

After the inaugural ceremony, two short plays penned by seasoned actor and theatre practitioner Salman Shahid were staged titled ‘Abdullah’ and ‘Patriot’.

Both the plays were written in English and they were well performed by the cast. The first short play, Abdullah, featured a conversation between two married women of the elite class played by Yusra Irfan and Asma Niaz who are generally suspicious about house servants. The servant, Abdullah, was played by Omar Cheema whose idiosyncratic behaviour made the audience laugh.

The second play, Patriot, was a more serious affair dealing with radicalisation of an American youth of Pakistani origin by another man of Iraqi origin who believes in the cause of terrorists. The actors — Shanawar Butt, Shah Fahad and Omar Cheema — deftly played their parts and earned applause at the end.

Red carpet

A large number of theatre professionals and television celebrities interacted with their friends and fans on the red carpet before the inaugural ceremony.

National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) graduate Paras Masroor, who has also earned acclaim on television, is directing an Urdu play ‘Shaam Bhi Thi Dhuan’, penned by Rafiq Anjum for the festival, which will be staged on October 1.

Talking to The News, Masroor said that although he was busy with television projects, theatre was still his passion and he would continue doing theatre in spite the fact that it did not offer much financial benefits in comparison to working for television.

Farhan Alam Siddiqui, who has become a staple part of the theatre scene of Karachi, said he was involved in a total of seven productions for the festival in the varying capacities of writer, director and actor.

He lamented that the Covid-19 pandemic badly disturbed the theatre scene, and many talented theatre professionals shifted to the television or films, but he was still predominantly attached to the theatre world. He is directing Khawaja Moinuddin’s iconic play ‘Taleem-e-Balighan’ that will be performed on September 13. He is also directing a psychological drama, Ek Yaad, that he himself has written. It will be staged on October 4.

One of the most talented theatre actors produced by Napa, Nazarul Hasan, who is currently getting rave reviews for his performance in television play ‘Jindo’, will unfortunately not be seen on the stage during the festival. He told The News he was not participating in any play because he could not find time for rehearsal. However, he clarified that he had not abandoned theatre and would continue appearing on stage despite his success on television.

In the last theatre festival that was held during the pandemic, theatre actor and director Zarqa Naz had directed a comedy by Krishan Chander that was loved by the audience. This time, she is not directing any play but is part of the cast of some plays. She will be acting in an Urdu farcical play ‘Dinner With Darling’ under the direction of Uzma Sabeen. The play has been penned by Babar Jamal and it will be staged on September 21.

The festival has also provided opportunity to young artistes to display their talents. One of them is Hassam Irfan who has recently graduated from the theatre academy of the ACP. Not only he is acting in a satirical play ‘Gadha Mandi’ that will be staged on September 23, but will also be presenting his debut direction The Police. The young talent explained that it was a play by Polish playwright Slawomir Mrozek and he himself translated it into Urdu.

An Urdu adaptation of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal with the title of ‘Fareb’ will be staged on October 1 under the direction of Muneeb Sheikh who is also part of the cast. Sheikh said presenting a play by Pinter was indeed risky as the Pakistani audience was not well aware of the theatre of absurd. However, he said every creative endeavour has risks associated with it.

Another interesting production might be improvisational theatre presented by Muneeb ur Rehman. He explained that ‘Koi Tayyari Nahin’ would be acted without any pre-written script and the actors would then and there craft their characters after taking suggestions from the audience. This production will be staged on September 9 as well as October 1.

French playwright Florian Zeller will also be featured in the festival as an Urdu adaptation of his play ‘The Father’ would be staged on September 23. It is being directed by Zeeshan Haider, who heads the ACP’s theatre academy.