LAHORE: Theatre has always been considered as the most powerful medium to reach out to the masses with a socially meaningful message and the Lahore Arts Council will stage such a play, Paisa Bolta Hai, at Alhamra Cultural Complex, Qadaffi Stadium, after Eidul Fitr.

The LAC is planning to stage a series of theatrical productions at its Mall Road and Gaddafi Stadium venues to attract the families by staging socially meaningful and objective theatre. The basic objective of introducing more and more parallel theatre is to introduce diversified topics through the medium, it says.

The play [a non-ticketed event], which will be staged daily after Eidul Fitr, is a three-act production having a realistic set of a drawing room and recorded music revolving around the relationship of love and brotherhood and how to make the society better by putting up a collective effort by its members. All the artistes who would act in the play will be from the Alhamra Academy of Performing Arts.

The director of the play is Qaisr Javed who has worked with the likes of Moin Akhtar, Masood Akhtar, Firdous Jamal, Abid Ali, Qavi Khan and many others. The play was written by late Professor Siddique Ahmed in the early 1970s. It has been staged in other countries as well. The play was first staged at Faisalabad [then Lyallpur] in 1972.

The council will also stage plays by veteran writers and new and upcoming writers as well.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2024