Local theatre troupes to perform in Australia

Sunil Shankar’s ‘Stump’ will be staged at SalamFest alongside other performances

KARACHI: Some artists from the local theatre community have rapidly made a name for themselves in the last several years. Actor-director Sunil Shankar has been extensively performing and conducting workshops for newcomers, Nazrul Hasan has come out as one of the finest emerging actors and Fawad Khan has become renowned for his plays in Karachi too. Now, these artists are taking their craft to Australia.

The theatre play Stump will be staged in the Melbourne culture festival, SalamFest, on October 27. On the same day, Khan and Hasan will perform the vintage art of verbal Urdu storytelling, Daastan Goi. Talking to The Express Tribune, Shankar expressed excitement about performing in Australia and shared how the project came about. “It’s actually for a cause. SalamFest is in its third year now, and their goal is the cultural exchange for Muslims and people who share the same language and culture as us,” he said.

PHOTO: PUBLICITY

Directed by Khan and starring Shankar, Stump is about a cricket controversy revolving around match fixing. Shankar shared the play talks about “how it emotionally manipulates young and talented players and as we have presented it in the form of a Pakistan and India match, it becomes even more intense.” The tragicomedy is originally written by London-based writer Imran Yousuf.

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Stump was earlier a finalist in the Framji Minwalla Writing Competition at National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) and has been staged in the local Karachi circuit. As far as the Melbourne performance is concerned, Shankar said, “Zane Dalal, Darayus C Minwalla, Shahveer J H P Byramji, Zia Mohyeddin, Arshad Mehmood, Raihan Merchant and Framji have been very generous in supporting us and helping in our tour to Australia.”

PHOTO: PUBLICITY

He said they are expecting up to 2000 people at the Federation Square, an arts and culture space where the performance is to be held. However, after this performance, Shankar is planning a separate tour to Australia for a series of performances. Shankar has earlier performed and directed much-acclaimed plays such as Equus, Qusoorwaar and Court Martial. Hasan has been seen in numerous plays alongside Shankar, appeared in the popular film Na Maloom Afraad 2 and occasionally features in short skits at Teeli.

Khan has been extensively working since 2008, working in high profile productions such as Waiting for Godot, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Khel Ek Raat Ka and Khoya Hua Admi. Along with Hasan, he started Daastan Goi in 2014 to revive the lost art form of verbal storytelling.

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