Plays reflecting women's miseries staged at PNCA

Islamabad: The marginalisation and exploitation of women in our society was the main theme of the two plays staged on Tuesday at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) in connection with the 12th National Theatre Festival.

Written by ZA Zulfi and directed by Asma Butt, the play ‘Har gharri mera imtehan liya’ was a realistic depiction of the apathy of a woman having no male support and shelter after she was divorced.

Played by an experienced local artiste Shagufta Khan, the divorcee went through a series of rape incidents. Finally she kills the rapist and herself too, and seeks justice from God after she would reach to her final destination. Undoubtedly, Shagufta Khan very well the character with all right amount of expressions, postures and dialogue delivery.

Meanwhile, Asma Butt described her play a reflection of the society’s untoward behaviours. She said the play was more relevant today than it was written some two decades back. The other cast included Salman Sunny, Ghayyas Mastana, Shahid Bhola, Ali Shan, Arshad Khan and some others. ‘Raees Khana’, adapted by William Pervaiz from a short story by renowned fiction writer Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi and directed by Zabir Sarhadi, was a story of poor family living in a hilly resort as caretaker.

Having paid guest has been very rare for the caretakers while the nearby official residence has always been at full occupancy making the servants of that government facility to earn much more.

Another talented actress Lubna Shahzadi played the character with precise margins against an experienced artiste Sabir Khan. The other performers included Zabir Sarhadi, Arif Bhatti, Seema Javed, Rizwana Khan, and Zainul Abedien Khan.