LAHORE: The 21st six-day Alhamra Theatre Festival concluded at the Alhamra Art Center, The Mall, amidst a performance by a known theatre group.

The festival was organised by the Lahore Arts Council (LAC) in connection with the Independence Day celebrations.

The concluding evening not only had award of shields to the participating theatre groups by veteran journalist Suhail Warraich, Member Board of Governors of the LAC, and LAC Executive Director Ather Ali Khan but also a dazzling performance ‘Prem Gali Ki Prem Kahani’ by Azad Theatre.

The hall was packed to capacity and the responsive audience was all praise for the artistes and enjoyed the light comedy punches in the play. ‘Prem Gali Ki Prem Kahani’ is written and directed by Malik Aslam.

The one-act play spanned over an hour and a half and had a lot to offer in terms of the Walled City culture. The short love stories get developed on rooftops of the Walled City. The play highlights the issues of illegal immigration and interest-based loans the gullible people are trapped in.

The play -- the premiere of Azad Theatre’s new production -- had pieces of recorded music mostly based on film numbers. The set was impressive and left a powerful impact on the audience. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the performances.

The cast included Sarfaraz Ansari, Alia Abbasi, Zohaib Haider, Naina Baloch, Zoya Qazi and Nadeem Abbas.

Officials of the Lahore Arts Council announced that the next event (theatre festival) would be held in October 2019 in which more groups would be invited to participate.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2019