Edwardes students put up a show for all seasons

PESHAWAR: Keeping tradition alive, students of Peshawar’s historic Edwardes College performed “A Man For All Seasons” -- Robert Bolt’s fictionalised stage adaption of English Chancellor Thomas More’s principled battle against King Henry VIII.

The play shows the audience that men of principles do not bow their heads before those in power, and this quality earns them true respect.

After rehearsing for three months, students of the college performed live in front of an audience of over 100 people in the old hall of the 111-year-old college. The play was a relatively large production for school level, with 18 actors and more than 20 students helping behind the stage.

Muhammad Usman Orakzai starred as Thomas More and drew thunderous applause from the audience for his portrayal of the man who dared to deny King Henry VIII the right to defy the Catholic Church and remarry; the man who was beheaded for not breaching his principles.

Audience members enjoyed the stage performance and said the college and students kept the tradition alive by performing well.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Mehwish Muhib, an old Edwardian, said she was delighted by the performance of the stage players.

“Acting is really difficult and I myself can’t even stand on stage. I enjoy literature and the way these students performed, it was superb,” she said.

Edwardes College Vice-Principal Kalimullah Khan stressed upon the need for co-curricular activities and asked parents to give their children the opportunity to perform on stage which he said was essential for their character development.

“Apart from coursework, parents should allow their children to take part in activities outside the classroom,” the vice-principal said, adding that these were the additional skills that students should learn.

With the present law and order situation, one exchange of dialogue in the play particularly stood out.

When More is asked to break the law to save himself from imminent death, More replies, “What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to go after the Devil? ... And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you, where would you hide, with the laws all flat?”

Even a death sentence could not sway More.

Performing on stage in a city that is still under a very real terrorist threat shows that people of the region are no less principled than Thomas More himself. They are willing to stand firm upon their principles, even in the face of danger.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2011.