Ajoka to offer Punjabi play at theatre festival today

The renowned Ajoka Theatre Group from Lahore is set to stage a Punjabi play at the Pakistan Theatre Festival 2023 today (Monday). The festival is being held at the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi (ACP).

The play, titled ‘Anhi Mai Da Sufna’, has been written by veteran playwright and director Shahid Nadeem who leads the Ajoka Theatre as its executive director. He has written over 50 plays in Urdu, Punjabi and English.

According to the ACP, ‘Anhi Mai Da Sufna’ deals with the human tragedy that was caused as a result of the Partition of 1947. The play tells the story of a blind woman and an elderly dyer against the backdrop of the Partition, and encapsulates the resilience of human spirit.

The cast of the play includes Naseem Abbas, M Usman, Razia, Malik Qaiser, Usman Zia, Bilal Mughal, Shahzad Sadiq, Rizwan Riaz, Haifa Mudassar and Rania Mohsin.

After its Punjabi offering, the Ajoka Theatre will also stage an Urdu play by Nadeem titled ‘Kaun Hai Yeh Gustakh’. It will be enacted on Tuesday.

The last play staged at the festival was an English dark comedy titled ‘Both Sit in Silence for A While’ written by Ali Junejo who also acted in the play along with Rasti Farooq. The drama, which showed a long conversation between an unhappy couple on the verge of separation, was directed by Kanwal Khoosat. It was enacted on Friday and Saturday and attracted a large number of people. Junejo and Rasti have been working in the theatrical medium for several years. They also recently starred in a film, Joyland, that was screened at the Cannes Film Festival.