LAHORE: The theatre groups for 10-day long Alhamra Theatre Festival have been finalised.

The festival will be organised by the Lahore Arts Council at the Alhamra Arts Centre on The Mall from Aug 5 to 14.

The groups participating in the festival are Mass Foundation, Ajoka Theatre, Azad Theatre, Salamat Productions, Theaterwalay Group from Islamabad, Ghayyur Theatre, Aks Theatre and Islamabad Art Academy.

The participating groups complain that the supporting amount to be paid by the council is as low as Rs35,000 per group and it will be reduced to Rs 24,000 after tax deduction.

The Mass Foundation says they were paid Rs50,000 in 2019. Similarly, Ajoka and Azad theatres have also expressed their reservations about the amount.

“The amount is a joke but still we are participating in the festival only for the revival and promotion of theatre,” said Shahid Nadeem.

Lahore Arts Council Executive Director Farhat Jabeen said that owing to Covid there had already been deductions in the budget of the council. The objective of holding the festival was to promote socially meaningful theatre, she said. She said the cost of electricity of the venue and other such facilities would be borne by the council.

The festival will feature parallel theatre groups and the audience will have to strictly follow Covid SOPs. The participating theatre groups will rehearse their productions from time to time.

A grand opening ceremony will be graced by showbiz personalities, writers, poets and intellectuals.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2021