It is sad that the hard work of the troupe of actors was overshadowed by this mishap by the organisers.
KARACHI: I attended the much-hyped Bombay Dreams on February 10 with friends, and when we got there (with tickets we paid for), it was a shock to see that the number of people was way over the number of available seats.
It seemed as if they had sold more tickets than there were seats in the auditorium, or given too many extra passes. That the organisers could have miscalculated in this manner is hard to believe, given that this is hardly the first play they have done in this auditorium. (After all, it’s not like the number of seats there keeps changing.)
The result was a bit of a farce. The play was to start at 8 pm but for the first 20 minutes all that happened was that Shah Sharahbeel walked around the stage with a mike, trying to persuade people to give up their seats. And he did this all the while promising those left standing that he would find them seats. The people who were sitting were asked to give up their seats to the elderly and were asked “Kisi ko jannat mein jana hai?”.
To give credit where it is due, a number of people did move and sat on the floor in front of the stage. Then, of course, there was the usual tedious, “let’s clap for the people who have moved” round. As a result of the entire drama, the play began late and ended much later, (completely ruining our dinner plans — and I am sure there were many others in the audience affected in this manner). It is sad that the hard work of the troupe of actors was overshadowed by this mishap by the organisers. I mean having paid a considerable amount of money, it shouldn’t have been too much to expect one to sit in comfortable seats in a spacious auditorium to watch a good and entertaining production.
Sarah Khalid
Published in The Express Tribune, February 14th, 2011.
