In wake of the social media debate on the Lux Style Awards’ failure to include theatre in its award categories, Instep speaks to thespians Nida Butt and Zain Ahmed on how important it is for theatre to be honoured as a form of entertainment.

For centuries now, theatre has remained the most intrinsic form of entertainment - if not the most immediate - allowing self-expression and the human body to take center stage in real time. For female devotees of Greek god Dionysus, a god of fertility and wine, theatre started off as a form of dance and chorus in 5th century BC. From there on, his followers expanded it into including elements of dialogue, drama, tragedy and comedy, travelling across the West to promote cultural identity within the region. Britain, now home to some of world’s most notable theatricals and of course Shakespeare, got its first taste of the art much later - in mid-15th century.

But as it travelled through time, theatre became of prominence as not only a cultural tool but as a voice against political injustice. And even so in Pakistan, until it got lost to vulgarity and crass humour post the Zia-ul-haq era. After years of being deemed as a Punjabi kitsch of sorts, theatre recently regained its voice witnessing a significant growth in Pakistan, paving way for the kind of theatre that advocates social cause, that evokes a strong sense of emotion and that sways you to its music. In short, theatre that is both diverse and intelligent.

Not enough can explain why theatre matters. It not only has the ability to build communities but is in fact the sharpest tool for live debate. Theatre has the power of persuasion. While film is lifelike, theatre is life itself.

"Theatre is the backbone of art in any progressive society, including Pakistan," Nida Butt emphasized the importance of theatre while speaking to Instep. "For the last 10 to 15 years, theatre has entertained and groomed and been a platform for artists who have then gone in to various industries, be it music, television or film. And this happens globally because television and film are newer industries whereas theatre has existed since time immemorial."

"Also, theatre has been a tool for change in society. It’s been a medium to highlight social and cultural issues," she continues. "In some of the most war-torn countries, theatre is a tried-and-tested mode of communication, reflecting the happenings of a society. So the reasons for theatre being important are multiple and there is no denying them."

Clearly theatre’s contributions, not just globally but also in Pakistan, have been invaluable. Actors like the late Moin Akhtar, Sania Saeed, Sanam Saeed, Adnan Sarwar and Sarwat Gillani, who are now popular identities of the television realm, have all emerged from the very foundations of the proscenium arch. In times of distress, theatre in Pakistan has also proven to be an active medium of bridging gaps between Pakistan and India, welcoming thespians from across the border to share the stage. Yet the need to recognize theatre has faced a sort of silent passivity. While theatre has continued to transform the way people relate to their surroundings, not much has been done to celebrate its ambitions and achievements.

In the same vein, director and thespian Nida took to Facebook to share her disappointment on the lack of a platform to acknowledge theatre’s efforts and the fact that even though the Lux Style Awards claim to honour the entertainment industry as a whole, they have ignored this integral part of it, time and again.

"Lux Style Awards claim to support the entire entertainment industry, yet excludes theater year after year," Nida Butt wrote. "Theatre boomed before films have in Pakistan. It has groomed and given a platform to actors who are now TV, Music and Film stars (even some winners of LSA awards). Yet no recognition for this truly challenging art form that has entertained Karachi for the last decade (at least). No recognition, no award giving body, not even a glance in this industry’s direction."

Speaking to Instep about her social media outburst, Nida added, "I am glad that the LSAs are the only platform in this country that recognize both music and fashion. They must be given full marks for it. My fight is not with the LSAs; my fight is that theatre must be given a platform. But since LSA happens to be the only award-giving body, I turned to them saying that they need to include us. I am not saying give Nida Butt an award, I am speaking for the whole of theatre. We will be dead and gone in 30 years but what are we leaving behind for our generations to come? It’s about time somebody spoke for the industry in order to sustain it in the long run. People have been putting in their blood and sweat for the art form since decades so why shouldn’t it be recognized."

Surprisingly enough though, the LSAs did consider including the theatre category a while back and even requested for submissions. However, under vague circumstances, the committee reverted on their decision to do so. Awards manager and PR head of the LSAs (back then), Fareshteh Aslam, explains what really happened.

"The theatre genre was considered in 2014 but very quickly we came up against the difficulty of bridging the national divide. All awards are based on jury votes and here we found that geographical distances meant jury based in one city had not seen the production in other cities. Till we find a way round this divide we will not do justice to theatre as a genre," she states.

Zain Ahmed, Artistic Director for NAPA, however, feels that more than logistics, it was the LSAs initial approach that was more of an issue. "If you are setting up an awards institution, then you have to do things properly. Theatre is a live, performing art. You can’t contact us 20 days, or a month, prior to the event and ask us to send submissions. The decision must be announced a year in advance so that everybody starts recording the plays. Also a proper jury needs to be set up, again a year in advance, so that they can be invited to all of the plays and they can judge the performances live," he asserts. Nida too believes that while most Pakistanis plays are filmed, it’s pretty simple to form an impartial guild from three main cities and gauge performances live if you’re really interested to do so. All it requires is "three airplane tickets a month".

Despite corporate affiliations and the subsequent derogatory scorn directed at it every single year, the LSAs have remained the only platform to recognize various artistic genres, as a composite, with hardly a bias in play unlike those hosted by channels to pat themselves on their back. It started off as essentially a ‘style-based’ awards platform and eventually turned in to an institution honouring the best in entertainment and fashion. So while criticizing the LSAs has become the latest trend in the country, one cannot deny that it is indeed the only neutral entity that actually made an effort to celebrate liberal arts.

Then why has it neglected theatre? One reason could be the initial scarcity; there simply weren’t enough productions to be considered. Perhaps it was considered too intellectual to be rated alongside the more popular, glamour-based mediums. Theatre has had a niche following, compared to television and cinema, and maybe it needed high-level expertise to evaluate, which wasn’t feasible.

Regardless of the reason, theatre deserves to be rewarded, if not at the LSAs, then perhaps by an entity of its own, like the Tony Awards, that are often referred to as the Oscars of live theatre. And it seems work is already underway.

"I am really glad that I took the initiative of speaking for the industry. Currently we are bringing everyone together including directors, producers and artists from various theatre companies on a national level. We are planning to create an independent guild – an impartial one that is not driven by a brand or a corporation – and then develop a website where we’ll be asking for submissions from the past two years. During that time we’ll be running a strong, three-month social media campaign. The idea is to create awareness - get people to talk about theatre, to get media behind us and even to get corporates on board - and then culminate that into an awards ceremony," reveals Nida.

She further informs that all measures will be taken to ensure the impartiality of the jury, a criticism thrown at the LSAs umpteen times. "If you are a director of a play or an actor, you can either contest for it or sit on the selection committee. You can’t do both. You can’t be the judge and submit the play," she adds.

In this endeavour of hers to recognize and promote theatre to the level that it should be, Nida is not alone. Nadia Jamil, who was unavailable for a comment, has openly stated that LSAs does not hold the merit to match up to theatre’s standards. She has also extended her support and so has Zain Ahmed.

"I have received Nida’s email and I feel it’s about time. There is no harm in having a separate awarding body. Awards are not only needed for recognition but also for publicity. However, I do feel that the industry also needs to first sit down and discuss how to strengthen its presence and how to help thespians continue with the great work that they are doing," Zain informs.

Be it cinema, television, theatre or any other industry for that matter, there is nothing quite like the feeling of receiving an award. It not only is recognition of your talent and hard work but also a driving force in urging one to strive for success. Unlike film stars, thespians may not have life’s monetary rewards adding worth to their hard work. That’s when an award will serve as a means to strengthen their faith in the medium. They’ll be welcomed as a form of encouragement in times when the government is barely supporting the arts. Yes, theatre industry too is house to a number of inner conflicts where one form of theatre is considered as more authentic compared to the other, but it’s time for the industry to unite for itself because even though live theatre may be under the threat of extinction in the digital age, it is the only form of entertainment that has an organic quality to stimulate deeper thought and unleash the complexities of characters face to face with the audience - a trait missing in both cinema and television.