Drama festival: Unnecessary dance sequences make for a bad performance
Weak execution of “Alif Iqbal” ruins essence of an otherwise great story
A couple performs in the play “Alif Iqbal” (left); a scene from “Saat Pardoon Main” at the PNCA, Islamabad. PHOTOS: MUHAMMAD JAVAID/EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD:
Students of Quaid-i-Azam University staged a play titled “Alif Iqbal” at Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) on Thursday as part of the ongoing drama festival.
The story of the play revolves around a family consisting of an evil aunt, her daughter, son, niece, grandfather and their servant Balla, whose actual name is Muhammad Iqbal.
Balla is often mistreated and spends his time fantasising about the girls in the house or singing and dancing until one day he hears of a poetry competition for Iqbal Day that will send the winner to Germany to study in the same college where Allama Iqbal gained higher education. This inspires Balla and rest of the story unfolds how he writes poetry, has a dream featuring Allama Iqbal himself who inspires him to pursue his actual purpose and wins the competition.
While the story seems strong on paper, the execution was rather weak. Even though it was an amateur effort by a group of students, a little more seriousness could have made it a stellar show. Initially, the play seemed like a series of tacky musical and dance performances on Bollywood tracks for no rhyme or reason. It was only in the second half that the play started making sense and revealing its real meaning and essence.
What was even more disappointing was Quaid-i-Azam University students passing inappropriate comments at the female leads and whistling for all the wrong reasons. Considering the audience constituted of undergraduate and postgraduate students, it was rather disappointing for anyone trying to concentrate on the play and its storyline.
The actors, however, displayed great strength in their acting and made their roles seem believable. The evil aunt and the grandfather along with Balla displayed great maturity in their acting skills and stunned the audience.
The unnecessary musical and dance sequences ruined the essence of an otherwise great story but humour every now and then and strong acting performances from the cast saved the play.
Meanwhile, a play titled “Saat Pardoon Main” by the students of Fatima Jinnah Women University was staged at PNCA on Tuesday.
The plot revolved around four passengers travelling in a train discussing their stories with each other.
Each passenger presented him or herself as the hero of the story, when in reality it was quite the contrary.
It showed how people hide their flaws and mistakes and highlight only their successes but the conscience stands against lying and manipulating.
The play also pointed towards that time when a person has made so many mistakes that his or her conscious dies, which is the sad reality of people’s lives today.
Young girls from the university had worked hard to put up the show. It was a team effort and the writer and producer played an influential role in the play. All characters displayed strength and it did not seem like an amateur effort at all.
Speaking to The Express Tribune Aiman Saleem, a Masters in Media and Communications student who wrote, produced and acted in the play, said that theme of conscience was very close to her heart and she always wanted to represent it in a play.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2016.
Students of Quaid-i-Azam University staged a play titled “Alif Iqbal” at Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) on Thursday as part of the ongoing drama festival.
The story of the play revolves around a family consisting of an evil aunt, her daughter, son, niece, grandfather and their servant Balla, whose actual name is Muhammad Iqbal.
Balla is often mistreated and spends his time fantasising about the girls in the house or singing and dancing until one day he hears of a poetry competition for Iqbal Day that will send the winner to Germany to study in the same college where Allama Iqbal gained higher education. This inspires Balla and rest of the story unfolds how he writes poetry, has a dream featuring Allama Iqbal himself who inspires him to pursue his actual purpose and wins the competition.
While the story seems strong on paper, the execution was rather weak. Even though it was an amateur effort by a group of students, a little more seriousness could have made it a stellar show. Initially, the play seemed like a series of tacky musical and dance performances on Bollywood tracks for no rhyme or reason. It was only in the second half that the play started making sense and revealing its real meaning and essence.
What was even more disappointing was Quaid-i-Azam University students passing inappropriate comments at the female leads and whistling for all the wrong reasons. Considering the audience constituted of undergraduate and postgraduate students, it was rather disappointing for anyone trying to concentrate on the play and its storyline.
The actors, however, displayed great strength in their acting and made their roles seem believable. The evil aunt and the grandfather along with Balla displayed great maturity in their acting skills and stunned the audience.
The unnecessary musical and dance sequences ruined the essence of an otherwise great story but humour every now and then and strong acting performances from the cast saved the play.
Meanwhile, a play titled “Saat Pardoon Main” by the students of Fatima Jinnah Women University was staged at PNCA on Tuesday.
The plot revolved around four passengers travelling in a train discussing their stories with each other.
Each passenger presented him or herself as the hero of the story, when in reality it was quite the contrary.
It showed how people hide their flaws and mistakes and highlight only their successes but the conscience stands against lying and manipulating.
The play also pointed towards that time when a person has made so many mistakes that his or her conscious dies, which is the sad reality of people’s lives today.
Young girls from the university had worked hard to put up the show. It was a team effort and the writer and producer played an influential role in the play. All characters displayed strength and it did not seem like an amateur effort at all.
Speaking to The Express Tribune Aiman Saleem, a Masters in Media and Communications student who wrote, produced and acted in the play, said that theme of conscience was very close to her heart and she always wanted to represent it in a play.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2016.