LAHORE: For the revival of family theatre, the Lahore Arts Council is going to stage a play, Friends of 70s, at Alhamra Art Centre, The Mall, from Aug 8 to 14.
For the last many years, there had been a void when it came to family theatre as until recently, commercial theatre had its lingering presence at Alhamra but later it came to an end. For the last many months, the council has been striving to bring back family theatre for the audiences.
This play, Friend of 70s, is directed by noted actor Waseem Abbas and written by Saeed Anjum. The cast has seasoned seasoned actors like Honey Albela and Qaiser Piya and Ashraf Khan while budding actors include two girls from Kinnaird College, Meher Chauhdry and Imaan Noor.
Two actors in the play are from Ajoka Theatre, Usman Raj and Sheeza Butt, while another actor, Ahmed Mughal, is from the Government College University.
The play, as its title shows, revolves around era of the 1970s, the ambiance and atmosphere of those days. The set is realistic and has been designed by Mehrunisa and Bilal. The audience, especially those of the 1970s era would taste the flavour of that decade also with recorded pieces of music. To many in the theatre fraternity, the play would prove a breeze of fresh air for the Lahori stage audiences who had no choice to enjoy a stage play earlier except the commercial theatre.
This family theatre is being revived as commercial theatre as well from the platform of Alhamra but it does not have any dances and obscene dialogues.
Officials told Dawn that the inaugural day of the play will mark a grand celebration as many television, film and theatre luminaries are being invited to see the play. They said it will be a ticketed play and the ticket price is Rs500.
However, the council has written letters to different universities to invite them free so that the young generation can watch the fresh production and a purely family drama.
The officials hope that the family plays would be a regular feature of Lahore Arts Council.
Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2026
