LAHORE:
Junoon, a musical play, featuring energetic dance sequences, lively music, young cast and a social message premiered on Friday.
It is a production of Show You Care, a society working for the concerns of physically challenged people.
The performance at Alhamra Arts Complex had all the right ingredients to ensure that the audience returned not just entertained but also inspired.
Written and directed by Anjum Riaz, a theatre director and a sculptor, the play has been produced by Farhat Rasheed, the SYC founder.
The story revolves around a young girl, Annie, who is an integral part of a dance troupe. It is the tale of her passion to rise to the challenges in her life.
The protagonist Annie becomes physically challenged in the wake of an accident in the middle of a dance rehearsal, the play takes a serious note highlighting the limited options for physically challenged people in the country.
From going to restaurants, going out with friends to even trying to pursue a career, the play depicts the lack of facilities for the physically-challenged people in Pakistan.
Rasheed makes a feature appearance in the play after Annie’s fall. She receives a loud applause for playing the role of Annie’s old school friend Amna.
Mentoring and encouraging Annie, Rasheed tells her about her own struggle in trying to make a life of herself.
Annie is fixated about being able to walk again. Rasheed’s character –Amna – assures her of the possibilities.
“Am I not standing on my own feet through my own accomplishments? We spend too much time worrying about our body and ignore our soul.”
Rasheed, diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth, is wheel-chair bound. The producer, who has worked in the marketing industry for four years, has won a gold medal during her master’s in business administration.
A short documentary on the SYC was played before the start of the play.
According to the SYC, nearly 10 per cent of Pakistan’s population is disabled. Most of them live in Sindh and the Punjab.
The documentary called for the construction of ramps across all government and public buildings and recreational and educational institutions.
The play will continue until August 31.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 30th, 2014.
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