Shanzay City Auditorium comes to life

Much awaited Shanzay City Auditorium’s inauguration ceremony was held last week, marked by a live performance by Amjad Sabri, who was also crowned as the resident director of the auditorium.

Featuring VIP seating capacity for 750, a revolving stage, digitally changeable backgrounds, central air-conditioning, stand-by generator, a food court, a sound proof auditorium, parking space, modern makeup rooms and special security arrangement, the auditorium is set up with a vision of promoting the theatre industry in the city.

One of the major artists behind the project, Veteran theatre director Furqan Haider, said, “A good theatre auditorium in Karachi was a dream I had been pursuing for a long time. It is finally realised with the support of Karachi’s city government. The people of Karachi will now experience a great place for entertainment.”

“We will provide the best entertainment for the people of Karachi in this first revolving theatre of Pakistan. We will try our best to have shows on time. We will also try to ensure a family-oriented environment,” Haider added

Senior artist of theatre and television Khalid Abbas Darr, who had flown from Lahore to attend the event, said, “Karachi has got a high quality theatre auditorium. I hope this will help theatre flourish in the city.

The project, launched by the collaboration of Funrama Entertainment and City District Government of Karachi, will not only serve as a hub of technically facilitated performances, but will also train students in drama and music, particularly in the genre of qawwali.

Talking about the auditorium’s focus on qawwali, Sabri earlier said, “Certainly there is a future of qawwali in the county. In recent past with the passing away of great qawwals like Aziz Mian, my father Ghulam Farid Sabri and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, there has been a prominent gap, but I believe I have been able to achieve 70 per cent of the said target and reduce this gap.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2010.