Speaker associates dramatic art with pain in talk during theatre festival

The history of theatre in Pakistan and the future prospects of the art form were the subject of a talk on Sunday held at the Arts Council of Pakistan as part of the annual Karachi Theatre Festival 2020.

The talk, which was the second talk of the festival, was titled “Theatre in Pakistan: Past, Present & Future”. The earlier talk had been organised a week earlier which was about the artiste’s dilemma regarding treating their work as a profession or passion.

“Theatre is about emotions,” said Arshad Mahmud, senior actor and music director. He said great performers knew how to impress the audience with their art and expressed the hope that those who were learning the theatrical art today would be great performers in the future.

The talk was moderated by young director Kulsoom Aftab. The panellists included Mahmud, writer and director Samina Nazeer and director Fawad Khan.

Describing the art of theatre, Samina remarked that it was pain that created the art. “When there is pain, the artistes will express that pain through their performance,” she said. She also called for not compromising on the quality of the content of theatre. She especially praised the services rendered by the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) for the revival of theatre.

Khan advised the theatre professionals to take their profession as their passion. “If you are passionate about your work, you will surely succeed. There will be hurdles in your way but you can fulfil all your dreams if you work hard with dedication.”

He also remarked that performing arts institutions had played a positive role in the development of theatrical art in the country. The festival, which will last till October 18, has been offering plays in various genres for the people of Karachi. A gap of one each is also being maintained in the auditoriums to ensure social distancing to contain the novel coronavirus infections.

The plays which are yet to be staged include Henrik Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ (October 13), Javed Siddiqui’s ‘Begum Jan’ (October 14), Krishan Chander’s ‘Ishq Ke Baad’ (October 16), Manjula Padmanabhan’s ‘Lights Out’ and Ather Shah Khan Jaidi’s ‘Goodluck Darling’ (October 17).