KARACHI, Jan 6 Though there is little happening in the world of theatre in Karachi, there had been a time when the city was bustling with theatrical activities. The art-form's history in the city dates back to the pre-Partition era, yet it has almost been wiped out by various factors. Many say the lack of proper theatrical halls is one reason why theatre doesn't thrive here, while the hassle involved in attaining clearances from the state to stage plays is another hurdle.

Lately, a few performances have been staged by the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa), including Habib Mamoon. The response received by this play was quite overwhelming and it seemed the audience had proven all the notions of Karachians' lack of interest in theatre wrong.

There used to be Parsi Theatre, a group that performed both in Pakistan and India. “There was also a group led by Khwaja Mohiuddin and another by Kamal Ahmed Rizvi, while once Ali Ahmed migrated to Lahore and then to Karachi he also formed a group called Natak,” said dancer, actor and director Sheema Kermani while tracing the roots of theatre in the city.

However, she maintained that it was in the late 1970s that the fever of political theatre took over the city, which gripped everyone except the Theatrewalay (a group formed by Rahat Kazmi). “I was one of the founder members of Dastak, a group started in 1982 to work with an aim to create political awareness and activity and to stir a movement against absolute authority. Later on I formed my own group called Tehrik-i-Niswan,” she added.

Dastak trained many young enthusiasts including Sania Saeed, Shahid Shafaat and others.

“Our group believed in theatre for a purpose and we had a clear idea in mind that our plays are not going to be entertainment oriented,” said Mansoor Saeed, another of the founder members of Dastak. “It was a time of oppression and one of the ways to convey our thoughts to the people was through plays,” he said, adding that the scripts were usually translations of internationally known plays like Galileo, Exception in the Rule etc.

“We did some plays in collaboration with the Goethe Intitut, Alliance Francaise and others as they would give us a place to perform. Apart from that, we were the only group that did street theatre,” he said.

Commercial theatre, which is a crude form of stand-up comedy, began in the 1980s. Umar Sharif and Moeen Akhtar were discovered during this time. “Commercial theatre was less aesthetic and less artistic in taste. It did train actors and it did draw the audience nonetheless,” said Zain Ahmed, faculty member at Napa. According to him, the 1990s were a bleak time for theatre with television alluring young artistes with promising monetary packages, though it had also to do with the clamp-down on theatre in the late 1980s.

At present, there are two groups that have survived Tehrik-i-Niswan and Katha, while a new entry in the field is a bunch of youngsters studying at Napa calling themselves Natakwalay.

Though Napa is like a whiff of fresh air in the stale world of theatre, there still are many hitches for them to overcome.

Social stigma

“There are 17 students studying theatre at the moment. Interestingly, most of them are not at all from the affluent class. They have met with quite harsh criticism from their families, the girls particularly, for taking up this course,” revealed Ahmed. “People look down upon acting and consider it to be not worth studying. In fact, it is thought to be work meant for idle people and not career-oriented youth,” he added.

Be it amateurs or professionals, all agree that red-tapism has been the major obstacle in stunting the growth of theatre.

“Once a person or a group decides to stage a play, she/he has to get the permission from various offices to obtain a no-objection certificate. The stage performance is en route the ministry of information, the local police station, excise and taxation department, and then finally the nazim's office for the NOC,” Kermani explained. She said that since it seems like such a hassle, many people give up after performing once or twice and find TV or other mediums to be a much better choice. “This bureaucratic and aristocratic snag had existed when we were performing in the late 1970s and 1980s and strangely enough, it still is pretty much there,” said Kermani. “But there are other issues, too. We get quite a few calls from religious fanatics who think what we are doing is immoral. This particularly happens when I stage a dance performance,” she added.

Shahid Shafaat, a theatre actor and director with a group called Katha, had something more interesting to share.

“You won't believe how censorship is carried out with plays. If there are words like 'general science' being used in a play, the censor board will ask us to remove 'general' from it,” he said. Furthermore, he argued that there had always been a gap between the classes. “Theatre here is considered to be a domain for those who have studied English classics. Those who have not are looked down upon and not encouraged to pursue it,” he said.

“Lack of institutional support has been one of the major drawbacks for theatre. Though there had been various NGOs that supported theatre or rather helped it breathe for a while, it was not consistent,” reasoned Mansoor Saeed. “If the government had been supportive and had helped in promoting the arts and culture even to the extent that it did in Lahore, things might have been somewhat better. Unfortunately, the state had never encouraged it. Therefore, theatre has ended up being not only exclusive and not popular, but it has disappeared,” he pointed out.

He said that earlier on, there had been no institute meant for training youth and thus only a handful of enthusiasts would join theatre and would give it up as they could make no money out of it.

Proper venues

Lack of proper theatre halls is another issue. Mohsin Ali, a student at Napa and part of the Natakwalay team, told this reporter that there are hardly any choices available as far as the theatre halls are concerned.

“The Arts Council has quite a big hall and is equipped with all the technical facilities, bit it charges almost Rs33,000 to Rs35,000 for a day, which is obviously quite high,” Ali complained. “We had to opt for the PACC, which charges almost half as much. The hall is smaller and more suitable for newcomers like us,” he added. “If it had not been for the sponsors, our play would have not been a reality,” he said.

“It was in 2004 that the theatre of the Arts Council Karachi was equipped with all the latest gadgets and facilities. The other halls are more conference or seminar halls,” Kermani put it. Though many point fingers at commercial theatre, Sheema Kermani and others agree that people should be given a choice to choose whatever caters to their taste.