LAHORE: A well-illuminated Alhamra Art Centre, The Mall was quite a happening place on Sunday where shows for kids, theatre plays and visual art exhibition attracted large audiences.

All these cultural activities taking place at Alhamra are a part of the 16-day long Lahore Lahore Aye Festival being organised by the Punjab government at different venues in the city.

On Sunday, the two mega performances were held at Alhamra, including a play for kids, titled Diya Jalaye Rakhna, and another play Adal-i-Jahangiri. Diya Jalaye Rakhna, a 40 minutes long play for children, was performed by Salamat Productions. Written and directed by Zeeshan Haider, the basic concept of the play focused on no-one taking the responsibility of some wrongdoing such as throwing garbage on the street and not cleaning it while asking others to carry out this work. Shifting responsibilities such as looking after an ailing person or keeping one’s street and house clean and many other such messages were a part of the play. The Hall I of Alhamra where this play was staged had no capacity to sit as children with their parents and other relatives attend the theatre performance in big numbers. Arman, Ayesha, Basit and other young actors performed well and the audiences appreciated their performances. The Ainak Wala Jin was also staged for kids on Sunday and a large number of children attended that show too.

The play Adal-e-Jahangri was written and directed by Shahid Pasha. It was the presentation of Naurattan Productions. The theatre performance in all respects was fabulous and the actors were the young students. There were over 20 artistes who performed in the play that revolved around the theme of Mughal Emperor Jahangir’s justice system. It showed how swift the emperor was in imparting justice to the oppressed.

The set was realistic, it was festooned with a Mughal court scene flex, the light and its treatment was good. The play was replete with classical and folk dances. The costumes of the artists were that of the Mughal era. Overall, the play of historical significance offered a lot on the rule of the Emperor. The hall had no seat vacant and many in the audience had to accommodate themselves on side stairs.

Lahore Arts Council Executive Director Tariq Mehmood Chaudhry who also came to see the play Adal-e-Jahangri was hopeful that the festival would continue to have more and more audience on Monday (today) when six-day long book fair will also be inaugurated at Alhamra as a part of the festival.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2023