With all the hustle and bustle going on with TV and Film industry it is becoming apparent that our theatre is gradually being ignored by the masses but apart from all this theatre in Pakistan has been growing for a while with various indigenous theatre production houses, let’s take a look at some.
Ajoka Theatre
One of the oldest theatres and a not-for-profit arts organization in Pakistan with quite a historical significance, It was founded in 1983 by Madeeha Gauhar and Salman Shahid, a time period at which martial Law was at peak under the regime of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. Since its inception from the play Jaloos the organization has produced around 42 plays with Chalk Chakkar, Bala King, Burqavaganza and Kabeera Khara Bazar Mai just to name a few. As the time of its creation would suggest, Ajoka Theatre promotes a humane, secular and just society, Ajoka has performed in various countries including India, United States and Europe.
KopyKats Productions
KopyKats Productions under the banner of Dawar Mehmood and collaboration with satire mastermind Anwar Maqsood has overshadowed the theatrical arena for some time now, with their plays like Haaf Playt, Main Adakara Banoun Gi, Anwar Maqsood kaDharna, Sawa 14 August, Pawnay 14 August and now with play like Siachen, they usually caricature certain situations and make people laugh at it which in other case might not happen.
Olomopolo Media
A project of Kanwal Khoosat, there is so much going on with Olomopolo that it’s easy to got lost and miss out something! They also have been working to revive the art of storytelling through their project OloTatolo in which famous celebs are invited to participate in storytelling and interactive activities in which children from different background engage in learning activities, and you know for sure the work will be dripping with quality if names like SarmadKhoosat ,NimraBucha and Sania Saeed are involved. Another one of their ventures is OloFactory through which they are promoting screenwriting, theatre, dance and poetry workshops.
Independent Theatre Pakistan
ITP is another Theatre company based in Lahore but is relatively new, established in 2012 by director and writer Azeem Hamid, and like Ajoka they have performed at various international theatres. So far they have produced as well as adopted plays from liberal writers such as Saadat Hassan Manto and Meerza Adeeb. Their main focus is the revival of Urdu Literature and hence most of their plays are in Urdu language but that hasn’t limited them in any form because they have also done theatrical plays in Urdu and Punjabi languages.
LoLWaalay
You got to have the right timing and the right skills to excel at spontaneous comedy and as the name suggest LoLWaalay does exactly that. Unlike other franchises this theatre takes a different approach to connects with the audience (literally), breaking the fourth wall and also including the audience in the gig now and there, It must be mentioned that the team have much synergy and they are bringing a new trend in theatre in Pakistan.
MediaPeedia Entertainment
It Is said that the youth is the building block for a nation and but we say that the tutelage begins with the early age and MediaPeedia is fulfilling that role. Since March 2016 MediaPeedia Entertainment has embarked on a mission to familiarize our children with our cultural fictional characters and convalesce the lost art of storytelling in Pakistani theatre with their plays like Sheikh Chilli and Umro Ayyar.
A Karachi based Theatre Company whose founder Nida Butt has surely strived hard to make its presence in the theatre as the hub for musicals and plays in the genre of romance. They also have a socio-cultural peace campaign; based in Karachi, their aim is to inculcate the pride of citizens of Karachi through the promotion of dance, theatre, culture and sports.
An Applause for every single person who is working for Pakistani Theatre Industry. Keep Rocking and Keep Making us Proud 🙂
