ISLAMABAD: The new production of Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) is ambitious but problematic.

The play titled Khaali Stage teaches morality, stresses on character building and social improvement. But the play, over an hour long, fails on how the lessons are delivered. That was likely to happen especially when the 30 plus cast members on stage were made up of a few professional stage actors and mostly aspiring actors.

The audience appreciated the efforts and the hard work put in the play nonetheless when the show opened Friday night at PNCA.

The stage play was the outcome of a three-day workshop on theatre and the script was written and scenes put together by everyone who attended the workshops. Professional stage performers took out time to share their experiences and teach aspiring actors how to make theatre better again.

The play was a ‘dramatic collage’, as the director Dr M. Waqar Azeem described it, with bits and pieces of different stage productions incorporated into one like ‘Exception and the Rule’ by German writer Bertolt Brecht and Agha Hashar Kashmiri’s ‘Khoobsurat Bala’ to mention a few.

The story reflects on the present times when a girl walks onto a stage and sees it empty and envisages imaginary characters there.

Taking on different roles she tries to enact roles written by famous writers. In the effort she tries to explain the audiences how theatre was more than just entertainment and actors had the duty to educate and correct a few wrongs as their contribution to society.

“This is exactly what is missing in actors on stage today and in theatre. What we learnt from the students is how people have drifted away from their culture and traditions and how they hesitate to speak in their native languages and wear their traditional dresses,” said Dr Waqar Azeem explaining how actors could not do their role unless they were closer to their cultures and only then could they feel the pain.

The aspiring actors came from different backgrounds – some college and university students, entrepreneurs and people with regular jobs.

“Most of them are impatient and looking for shortcuts to stardom, which we tried to explain could come only from hard work and attachments to one’s roots and culture,” said Sabir Khan who spent the last 26 years acting on various platforms.

Bushra Masroor was acting on stage for the first time and she was quite confident about delivering before a packed auditorium.

“I have been writing for a long time. I have written 10 novels that are available in the market. I always wanted to play the characters I conceived in my mind and that’s why I’m certain I will be able to do a reasonable job,” said Bushra, who is a journalist by profession.PNCA Director-General Mohammad Naeem said: “We have had regular workshops before but did not give students a chance to perform. This show is experimental and will encourage actors on stage.”

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play