KARACHI: The National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) on Wednesday announced that it would hold the Napa Repertory Festival from Friday (tomorrow) to May 23 at its Zia Mohyeddin Theatre.

The event is a celebration of theatre and music bringing together some of the institution’s most accomplished alumni on the stage where they first learned their craft.

Speaking at a press conference here, Napa CEO Jarri Masood, alongside Hamza Jafri and Bazelah Mustafa, announced that the festival featured six theatre performances and three musical evenings performed by alumni.

He said that for over two decades, Napa had been the birthplace of Pakistan’s finest performing artistes and the Repertory Festival was a celebration of its legacy. “This is the best of what Napa built in 20 years, returning to the stage where it all began,” he asserted.

The festival would kick off on May 8 with a Sharr White play, Annapurna, which is adapted into Urdu by Noreen Gulwani and directed by Moazzam Malik.

It would be followed by Mulaqat, a Jean Pierre Martinez play adapted into Urdu by Waqas Akhtar and directed by Osama Ranjha.

Next in line is Edward Albee’s acclaimed Zoo Story, adapted into Urdu and directed by Babar Ali. Then an evening of dastaangoi, Aik Tha Baadshah, would be performed by Fawad Khan, Meesam Naqvi, and Nazar ul-Hasan.

A live music concert is the next event, with Arsalan Pareyal Trio, and Muhamad Minaam being the performers.

The festival would continue with Zeest, a play written and directed by Kashif Hussain, and then Hide Seek by Derek Benfield. It is adapted into Urdu by Babar Jamal and directed by Zarqa Naz.

The festival ends with two back-to-back concerts — a Piano Series featuring Zeeshan Zafar, Julian Qaiser and Philip Shahid, and then Transcendence, a Sufi music performance by Ahsan Bari.

All plays are being held for two days while musical performances are for single days only.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2026