KARACHI: Actor Ahad Raza Mir has been awarded a Betty Mitchell Award for his portrayal of Hamlet in a theatre play.

The Annual Betty Mitchell Awards aim to recognise excellence in Calga­ry’s Professional Theatre Community.

Mir was recognised for his role in the play Hamlet: A Ghost Story in the 22nd edition of the awards in the ‘Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Drama’ category.

The news was announced via the Betty’s official Twitter.

In an earlier interview with Dawn.com, Asif Raza Mir’s son had said: “Hamlet is particularly an exhausting character. Once the show is over, the cast asks me if I want to hang out and I usually just refuse. I am so drained that all I want to do is sleep.”

“My mother came to see me perform and she told me that for the first time, she couldn’t recognise me and actually felt scared of me. I just thought that I must be doing something right if my own mother could think that way!” he added.

This rendition of Shakespeare’s Hamlet was performed at the Vertigo Theatre in Canada. Mir was reportedly the first brown actor to be cast as Hamlet in Canada.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2019