How Made for Stage Productions is switching up its game for a cause

Published May 23, 2015
Nida Butt and Hamza Jafri's Made for Stage Productions is next putting up East is East
Nida Butt and Hamza Jafri's Made for Stage Productions is next putting up East is East

Karachi-based theatre company Made for Stage Production's next play will be East is East, revealed the company's founder Nida Butt in a series of tweets.

But this production will be unlike their previous ones. Here's why:

In order to ensure that people from all parts of Karachi are able to watch the play, ticket prices have been set at a low PKR 200 and only a limited number of tickets will be available for residents of Defence and Clifton.

"It's low cost because we want everyone to see it, to be able to afford it," Nida said to Dawn.com, "Thus, we are placing our tickets all over the city and pushing them through our networks, so that a diverse audience attends the play. Thus, only a small quota of tickets are available for DHA/Clifton residents as we will be ensuring ticket accessibility for all areas of the city."

"East is East is being staged by MAD School in support of the I Am Karachi campaign, which is a sociocultural peace campaign," added Nida, "An initiative of civil society and artists of Karachi, its aim is to instill pride and ownership in Karachi citizens through the promotion of theatre, dance, culture and sports. Keeping in line with this, we chose a play which was a family comedy drama that touches upon some culturally and socially relevant issues."

Originally written by British Pakistani playwright Ayub Khan Din, East is East has been adapted into an Urdu-language musical through the collective efforts of Nida and Sunil Shankar, who have co-directed; Faheem Azam, who has adapted and translated the story into Urdu; and Hamza Jafri, who has created original songs to be incorporated in the script. The musical will star model/singer/actress Rubya Chaudhry and Lol Waalay comedian Kumail.

East is East will be staged at NAPA, daily from June 5th to June 17th, with additional matinee shows every Sunday. Passes will be available at MAD and other locations to be disclosed.

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