World Performing Arts Festival 2006: Bigger and better -DAWN Images; November 26, 2006

The World Performing Arts Festival has assumed a grand scale with a mosaic of coordinated events exploring the diverse genres of performing arts including theatre, puppetry, dance, music and cinema. With 40 countries participating from all over the world, the event saw over 900 delegates flying into the city of Lahore to show off their skills

If there was a cultural event of international repute in Pakistan this year, it must have been the World Performing Arts Festival (WPAF) held from November 10 to 20 by the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop in Lahore. A mélange of colour, music and diversity, and quite like the tales of the Arabian Nights, each evening was a montage of different stories from around the world, narrated through various art forms.

Held every year since 1992, the event originally started as a puppet festival. Now, it has assumed a grand scale with a mosaic of coordinated events exploring the diverse genres of performing arts including theatre, puppetry, dance, music and cinema. With some 40 countries participating from all over the world, the festival saw over 900 delegates flying into the city to show off their skills.

The WPAF 2006 was inaugurated by President Pervaiz Musharraf a day before it opened to the general public. The staggering number of people from all age groups flocking to the Alhamra Cultural Complex was proof of how people from diverse backgrounds have an avid interest in art forms from around the world.

The brightly-lit venue of the open-air theatre made it appear like a gigantic crown and the 10-foot puppets along the entrance became a rage with the children. The venue itself was divided into seven camps and two halls for showing various events being conducted simultaneously, and each evening would conclude with a music night held at the open-air theatre dedicated to a particular theme.

The rain-proof camps were big enough to accommodate several hundred people and were equipped with sophisticated lights and sound equipment required by each group of performers. There were handicraft stalls and a food court too, albeit with inadequate supply for the large crowds, especially on the weekends.

Theatre: Some 26 theatrical groups participated including seven from India, five from Pakistan and the rest from countries as diverse as Moldova and Syria.

The performances that went really well with the crowds included those by the Mimi Richi Group from Ukraine that presented a pantomime and clown theatre act called Paper World. The group had four performers dressed as clowns on a hilarious rampage with sheets of paper and interacting with the audience. The act ended with the group giving out a huge sheet of paper to the audience to be passed around, signifying the bond shared between them and the audience. Though not a single word was uttered by the performers, each idea was conveyed through gestures perfectly understood by the crowd that gave the group a standing ovation at the end of their performance.

Mercury Theatre Hollywood from USA presented Edgar Allen Poe’s Tell Tale Heart, directed by Salman Peerzada. The play was about a psychotic murderer who goes on a killing rampage in a methodical manner. The motives behind the murders gave an insight into the terrifying complexities of the human mind. The cast included Dierdre Lyons and Adam Menken among others.

Dushman by Ajoka Theatre received a heartening response as well. Adapted from Ibsen’s play called An Enemy of the People, the play was about a small town called Shadab Nagar whose water is contaminated by effluents from a nearby Uranium enrichment laboratory. A scientist living in Shadab Nagar blows the horn and his brother, the nazim of the town, sets the entire government and media machinery against him for challenging his interests. Directed by Madeeha Gauhar, the audience particularly enjoyed the nazim’s character acted by Sarfraz Ansari.

Gripps Theatre from Karachi came up with a hilarious comedy, Jang Hai Basant Di, which had witty commentary on the state of political, social and economic affairs of the country. The cast, including Ali Saleem in his quintessential feminine guise, Khalid Anam and K. Sajeeruddin, were particularly appreciated. Rafi Peer Theatre’s Deewana also saw a full house. The comedy was written by the late Rafi Peer about a murderous lunatic who escapes from an asylum.

Other performances included the Syrian Antigone Emmigration about a woman defying the ruler of ancient Thebes Creon; the British comedy How to build a Time Machine written and acted by Greg Mclaren and an Indian play in a regional language called Operation Flush about the real-life trials of American soldiers accused of torturing prisoners of war at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq, among others.

Dance: Some 17 groups participated in this category, with Lea Capkova from the Czech Republic and Kathakali from India getting appreciation, besides our own Nighat Chaudhry, Fasihur Rehman and Sheema Kirmani.

Lea Capkova’s group presented a duet which was well received for its rhythm and synchrony. This was followed by a quartet of pretty, traditionally dressed girls who danced to folk tunes.

Kathakali presented a story from the Mahabharat about the Pandava brothers and his consort, Draupadi. The performers, attired in colourful traditional clothes, danced to a live rendition of the sacred Sanskrit tale and the beat of the dhol.

Puppetry: Around 16 groups participated in this category including the folk puppeteers from Pakistan, who performed every day in the traditional setup of kat-putlis. A woman would sing the story in Punjabi while playing the dhol while the puppeteers would act out the story behind an elaborately decorated miniature stage. The folk puppeteers particularly appealed to the younger attendants in large numbers, perhaps partially because of the reasonably priced ticket of Rs25 each.

The Mini Theater Group from Slovenia presented a virtual puppet show for Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytale, Thumbelina. The first of its kind, the animated show was conducted by Robert Waltl in real time. He would ask the audience, mostly children, in simple English interspersed with strongly accented Urdu, what Thumbelina should do each time she would be faced with a difficult situation and then he would respond as per the children’s feedback. It was puppetry in its most innovative form as Thumbelina became a virtual puppet, with the story being maneuvered by a very enthusiastic crowd of children and parents.

A Tale that wasn’t Written by the Praktika Theatre from Russia was enchanting no less. The shadow performance was about a princess who is in search of a fairy tale of her own. She travels across the world meeting bizarre characters like the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood and a knight trying to slay a dragon. In the end, she realises that her life is her own fairy tale. The shadow effects were ingenious and projected on to a white sheet painted with archaic text depicting a fairytale that was never to be. Again, with minimum English narration in between scenes, the play was well understood by an appreciative audience.

The Franco German Puppeteers put up another marvellous act. Elisabetta Potasso and Rita Amouya from France joined Shehryar Qureshi (acknowledged as the youngest professional theatre director by the Guinness Book of World Records) from Pakistan and Stefan A. Schulz in presenting a skillful show of mime and puppetry called Transit - Puppets without Borders.

Other performances enjoyed particularly by the children were the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop’s Skit Shows and the Cengiz Ozek Turkish Shadow Theatre’s Garbage Monster about a fish whose job is to clean the sea by eating all the garbage. However, the Iranian group, Lemon’s Waiting in Café Parker performance, a spin off from the play Death of a Salesman, could have been more enjoyable had the stress been on gestures rather than intensive Persian dialogue. Lemon’s members included Hossein Zeinali, Morteza Saeedian and Gelare Karami.

Cinema: Some 53 films from around the world were screened at the festival including 31 feature films, seven documentaries and 15 short films. Of particular interest was Lenore and Raven by Salman Peerzada.

Other entries included Khayal Darpan, a documentary by Indian film-maker Yousuf Saeed about the classical music traditions of Urban Pakistan. Main bhi hoon Maradona by Murtaza Chaudhry was about the ironic story of a football player from Quetta. The Spanish Off Tree to Tree was an interesting documentary about the life of the wood craftsman, Urcino Martinez.

Music: The 11 concert nights at the open-air theatre of Alhamra Cultural Complex were an impressive exploration of thematic music. The World Music Night for instance, was a set of fusion renditions by Italian, Brazilian, Czech and Syrian performers.

The Pop Night, which saw a full house featured Ali Zafar and Jawad Kahloun besides American Son of the Soil and the Ukrainian diva, Kamaliya. The songstress, supposedly the former Soviet Union’s answer to Madonna, particularly created a riot with her singing and dancing. Married to a Pakistani, she sang Nazia Hassan’s Boom Boom as well. The Ziryab Night was again a medley of performers on instruments as varied as fiddles, Spanish guitars and drums and of renditions as diverse as reggae and ballads.

The Gypsy Night featured Raya from Norway who presented the traditional gypsy dance in a fabulous swirling outfit. The Kalbailiyas from Rajasthan dazzled the crowd with their animated contortions and swirls. Our very own Reshma also performed to a full house. It was a delight to hear her sing again after suffering from ill health.

The Mystic Soul Night showcased diverse performers mostly from Pakistan including the celebrated Sain Zahoor, Zarsanga, Raza Allan Fakir, Shah jo Raag Fakirs and the Goonga and Mithu Sain dholiyas who gave an electrifying performance on the dhol, fused with electric guitars and enlivened by dhamaal dancers. Sundra Bratland from Norway and Jawed Bashir together sang a medley of poetry composed from hymns and renowned Sufi verses of Bulleh Shah. Though interrupted by a sudden downpour of rain, the show resumed once the showers ceased and the crowd hurriedly seated again.

The Ghazal Night featured renditions by Tina Sani and Ghulam Ali and the Classical Night featured maestros like Ustad Ghulam Hussain Shaggan, Hamid Ali Khan, Lekhwinder Wadali of India and Shafqat Ali Khan. The Rock Night was another crowd puller featuring Noori, Mekaal Hassan, Arif Lohar (in fusion with Noori), Fryd from Norway and Son of the Soil from the USA. The Flamenco, Latina and Tango Nights presented other varied acts bringing much diversity to the festival.

In all, the festival was truly a mosaic of performing arts bringing the world to Pakistan and taking Pakistan to the world. The credit goes to the Peerzada clan together with the Ministry of Culture and the sponsor Telenor who did a commendable job without over-projecting themselves during the event.

Focus on the Festival

By Halima Jabbar

The festival did more than justice to bringing the world on stage. Shows from Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Moldova, Syria, UK, India, Pakistan and many others unfolded during the 11-day festival. Many cannot be elaborated upon, but all were worth watching.

The monsters within
Salman Peerzada’s adaptation of The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe was a performance satiating for the eyes than the mind. Set in the 1940s, film-maker Nora Richardson is collaborating with Orson Wells to produce The Life of Edgar Allen Poe. Choosing a disturbed man to play Poe to placate MGM, the play explodes into the story of Poe’s Tell Tale Heart that many consider as autobiographical as the actor describes his nervousness to Nora.

The story goes like this: A protagonist who lives with an elderly man as his charge plots to kill him and succeeds. His success breaks under his guilt and ‘nervousness’ as he gives himself up to his demons and the police.

The adaptation, while full of colours and drama with lithe young women playful yet demonising the actions and thoughts of Poe’s protagonist, left the audience wanting more. Even with lose ends, uneven sound, overkill with gesticulations; the play did manage to get across Poe’s signature sense of horror and disturbed thoughts with a colourful performance.

One-man show
Monologic plays are often hard to pull off; more often than not, audiences get bored and feel uninvolved. The trial of Niccolo Machiavelli, written and performed by Michael Mcevoy, was the polar opposite. He dominated the stage with a superb, subtle animated demeanor from his entrance till his explosive exit.

The term Machiavellian is used to describe a corrupt and harsh rule. This notoriety was a result of the pamphlet Machiavelli penned, The Prince, which was a discourse on principalities and how a successful monarchial ruler should managed his people. Whereas the document came across as cruel to many, recent analysis shows that Machiavelli wrote it as a patriot not as the “enemy of the human race” or the “teacher of evil” as he came to be known.

The on stage Machiavelli wove through his past in a quest to figure out why he was on trial in front of the audience. Claiming he was getting trickles of history from the Medici rule in Florence to Marx to Kissinger forming a larger picture, the actor spun a discourse about his own life while highlighting the struggles of his time.

Finally, Machiavelli realizes that a final insult and the reason for this trial on stage is the current global tyrant’s claim to Machiavellian strategies. What follows is a brilliant diatribe on how the world has allowed itself to be divided on the plate of this tyrant, allowing him to systematically pick and chose his repast.

Puppet masters
Konrad Fredrick’s Punch and Judy Show came as a bit of a shock to one who had never seen it before. The show has been known to be a treat for children, especially in England. In Pakistan, where puppet shows for children are very passive, albeit on the corny side, The Punch and Judy Show was relatively explicit. The content was redolent of sexual content, violent and condoning of such activities. Perhaps we are all too used to children’s stories ending with a moral, or perhaps Mr Punch should not have enacted dark sadistic fantasies for children barely under the age of 12.

The skill used in manipulating puppets of that size, while confined in a box was tremendous. Content aside, watching tiny little puppets emerge and exit on that small stage was a delightful surprise as each figure was in complete control of his personality — especially keeping in mind that only one person controlled all the seven or eight puppets.

Lemon: waiting in Café Parker was a visual treat. It was like a virtual visit to the candy store. Virtual since the puppet show was in Iranian, but it was a pure pleasure just to watch and fun to interpret. The puppet show was a spin-off from the play, Death of a Salesman.

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman was about the great American dream where capitalism was supposed to win everyone luxuries and fame. Willy Loman, the father, a salesman spends his entire life waiting for this dream to appear out of his hard work and loses his mind and life waiting.

The puppet show is situated in a café where Biff and Happy Loman, sons of Willy are being waited on by their mother Linda. Puppet figures of the entire family and the scarlet woman are suspended above them, acting as convenient pieces of memory waiting to be selected and manipulated.

Set against a black backdrop, the stage was illuminated with two bright lights, which picked out faces and puppets in surrealistic, almost fauvist tones. The small figures, handcrafted by one of the puppeteers, have as much presence as their masters since they loom above like a great tragedy barely contained. Pulling the puppets from above them, the actors/ puppeteers created a compelling sense of drama with their tones, expressions and their command over the puppets.

For Hossein Zeinali, Morteza Saeedian and Gelare Karami this was their first performance in Pakistan. Not fluent in English or Urdu, they had trouble communicating. However, they were happy that by watching their play, people understood something and appreciated it if even just for the visuals.

Meeting across continents
From France, Elisabetta Potasso and Rite Amouya and from Pakistan Shehryar Qureshi combined puppetry skills and knowledge in an experimental show called Transit — Puppets without Borders.

The show revolved around a transit lounge as a place where humans interact in the daily travels of life. Where relationships come and go, but the baggage of each person has a constant presence, an immutable amorphous relationship with each person. The theme of recycle was a part of this project as was evident in even the use of instantly made puppets with old newspaper.

The performance was humorous, yet sensitive to the almost mundane occurrences, adding zestful twists with a joyful performance.