A  recent production of the play Ek Thi Nani by the Froebel Drama Society at the PACC auditorium in Karachi proved to be a success. The play, adapted from Shahid Nadeem’s original drama, is inspired by the true story of two sisters who reunite after a quarter of a century. Shahid Nadeem’s Urdu version was done in English by young students of the drama society.

Ek Thi Nani tells the tale of sisters Zohra Sehgal and Uzra Butt who were reasonably known actors and stage performers starting out in the 1940s. The play begins two and a half decades after they got separated at Partition: one sister opted to carry on with her career in India and the other left for Pakistan. The thrust of the play is the discord that exists between the two sisters on different issues. Their granddaughter now finds it difficult to decide what path to take in life. She gets confused whether to purse a career in the arts or lead a relatively simple life, get married and become a regular housewife.

Ek Thi Nani was produced by Ali Iqbal and directed by Marium Masood who also played the part of Sabeen, the granddaughter, and did a pretty decent job. Sila Rauf as Nani was also impressive.

The marked feature of the production was the idea behind it. In a society where bigotry and narrow-mindedness are spreading their tentacles, one seldom sees or hears a debate on matters related to the efficacy of art and the dangers of intolerance. In that context young students picking a play that touched on such sensitive issues was wholeheartedly appreciated by the audience.

Professionally, too, the production value of the drama was quite good. The actors (Sila Rauf, Fatima Shafiq, Marium Masood, Ali Iqbal, Asad Ali Shabbir, Faiza Hakim, Farhad Ahmed and Lyba Nasir) appeared to have understood their characters well before assuming their roles.