ISLAMABAD: Amateur stage actors drew attention to religious and social issues on Saturday, the second day of the five day Youth Drama Festival 2017.

Festival goers watched three consecutive performances at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), where the festival is being held.

Students from the Institute of Space Technology (IST) Islamabad impressed the audience with an hour-long performance that discussed the importance of serving humanity in religion, instead of constantly attempting to please God.

Titled Humsaya, the play followed an aggressive and ill-hearted cleric, who was in conflict with his family and neighbours, as he learned the hard way that his duty towards his fellow human beings was as sacred as pleasing God.

The play’s director Shehryar Khan said this was the first time he and his team had performed at the PNCA, calling the opportunity an honour.

“We decided to make a play around this theme because it is little discussed, and there is no harm in asking certain people to work for the greater good by serving people,” Mr Khan, a material engineering student, explained.

“The play reminded us of certain duties, such as caring for neighbours – a duty people seem to have forgotten these days,” said Noor Wahidi. Her sister Aleena said the play’s strongest message was that of respect for women. The performance appeared to be appreciated by most of the audience.

The same, however, could not be said about Randa-i-Darga, a performance by the Islamabad College for Boys G-6/3 theatre club.

Although the play was packed with a powerful message about recognising transgender rights, poor direction and poor acting made it difficult for the actors to make it through the hour-long performance, which also featured needless musical performances thrown in for comic relief.

This was followed by performance by the Dramay Baaz Theatre Club, called Chacha Tharki. The play followed an older man who has four single sons but wishes to get himself married first, and his sons conspire to have him marry a transgender person.

The play’s director Kamran Ali, an engineering student at Preston University, said his team wanted to perform a play that made people laugh. “Laughter is a little deficient these days, with so much worry going around.”

The festival will continue on Sunday with three more performances – Mata-i-Gharoor by students from the Federal Urdu University, Dr Salahuddin by students from the National University of Medical Sciences Rawalpindi and Gor Piya Koi Hor by the Aina Theatre Group Islamabad.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2017