NAPA festival sees premature closure

Organisers draw curtains over event, five days in advance

KARACHI:

Following days of rescheduling and multiple delays, the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) has decided to pull the plug on this year’s International Theatre & Music Festival. The festival — which is billed as the main event in Napa’s calendar — had its life cut short by five days after Indian performers who were to arrive in Karachi, were not issued visas to enter Pakistan.

The third instalment of the event officially drew to a close on Tuesday with a musical performance, Makrophonia, by an Austrian ensemble. Talking to The Express Tribune, Napa Programmes and Administration Director Arshad Mahmud said, “We waited until Monday afternoon [for the visas] to take the final decision, after which we closed the event with a performance by the Austrian group.”

Napa Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Zain Ahmed went on to add that even though the visa issues were hanging in the balance, there was another reason to the premature closure. “It just didn’t feel right … celebrating and continuing the festival after the Lahore attack,” he said.



Had the event continued as per schedule, Indian troupes Aasakta and Ujjagar Dramatic Association would have performed their plays Mein Hoon Yusuf Aur Yeh Hai Mera Bhai (March 30 to 31) and Mukaam Dheru, Jilaa Nagaur (April 1 to 2) respectively. These would have been followed by a musical performance by teachers and alumni of Napa on April 3. Earlier last week, the organisers were forced to fit in two of their plays, Zia Mohyeddin’s Khwabon Ke Musafir and Akbar Islam’s Khel Khel Mein, as last minute fixes after the Delhi-based theatre group Ilhaam Collective backed out.

This is not the first time Napa’s festival has run into trouble, as the event was plagued with similar issues last year when multiple Indian troupes pulled out due to visa problems. While previously the organisers had decided to extend the festival’s run to accommodate Indian performers at a later stage, Mahmud felt that such a move did not seem appropriate this time. “I hope the Indian performers will understand the situation, especially given the terms and relations that our countries enjoy. But we also have to make sure that we are not disrupting the schedule for any of our upcoming events,” he explained.

Even though the festival was brought to a premature halt, Ahmed reassured that this would have no bearing on its future editions. “We expect to continue the festival next year as well,” he reiterated.

When asked whether it would be better to prioritise all foreign performers instead of focusing on Indian troupes alone, Mahmud said, “This year, we had performers not just from India but from countries such as Germany, Austria and the US. We are keen on inviting people from different countries to the event and Indians are definitely among them.” 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st,  2016.

Like Life & Style on Facebook, follow @ETLifeandStyle on Twitter for the latest in fashion, gossip and entertainment.