English Theatre: Of plays and praise
Trends in English theatre over the years.
LAHORE:
With plays such as Bombay Dreams and The Phantom of the Opera successfully hitting the stage in recent years, the emergence of production groups in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi has seen a rise of English theatre in the mainstream performing arts.
The conscious development of English theatre in Pakistan started in 1990, when famed theatre director Shah Sharahbeel — who was then based in Lahore — started holding commercial productions by employing students from major universities.
Sharahbeel is widely considered a pioneer by most people in the industry because he was able to not only train talent but also create a line of producers, directors and actors from which the community was able to grow.
“I had always wanted to teach and make sure that the knowledge I possessed was passed on to those who were interested,” says Sharahbeel, who moved to London last year but returns to Pakistan to organise his productions. “We started a trend, because back then there were no opportunities to hone these talents.”
As a result, in Pakistan, there are now typically around 25 to 30 productions a year, if one includes the school productions; and major commercial shows can run for 25 to 30 nights. In Islamabad, a city not really known for its theatre, there are now seven theatre houses in operation; while there are three in Lahore and around two to three in Karachi.
These plays are usually adaptations of popular western plays and productions. Sharahbeel explained that Nida Butt in Karachi and a few others had started doing original plays, but maintained that criticising adaptations was absurd. “It’s a global village. Nobody accused British playwright Andrew Lloyd Webber of plagiarism when he adapted The Phantom of the Opera from a French novel,” said Sharahbeel. “We’re doing a service to theatre lovers since most of them can’t travel to France or England just to see these plays.”
But upcoming playwright Saad Sultan feels that the issue has to do with the Pakistani psyche, which would rather present international issues than assess its own. He explains that the English theatre is catered to a niche market since most plays in Lahore are held in Al-Hamra, which is located near most of the universities, where the plays can be easily marketed.
“You evolve in phases. Right now we’re going through an imitative period where we copy from other theatrical traditions; but now there’s a group of people trying to create original scripts,” said Sultan. “Our theatre tradition may not be thousands of years old, like the West, but it’s old enough to be called a tradition.”
According to the Hazaar Dastaan producer, Umer Hameed, the arts councils in the three major cities serve as a sort of hub for theatre where rehearsals and auditions take place.
The actors are usually amateurs who have very little theatre experience. “The talent is there but actors struggle with doing justice to their characters. However, over the last four to five years, some people have been going abroad to study theatre which is helping.”
Financially, however, holding a production remains a challenge. The arts councils charge high rates for rehearsals and box office support is minimal, which means that the industry is dependent on corporate sponsorship. For instance, the Karachi Arts Council can charge up to Rs35,000 per day for Urdu plays and Rs25,000 for English plays, explains Hameed.
“There is no entertainment nowadays. Where Punjabi theatre is thought of as vulgar, English plays in comparison provide a better alternative,” says Hameed. “We know what social class we are catering to and the good thing is that the market is a viable one.”
These experiments on the stage have revived an interest in theatre in the last few years and certain production houses are paving way for more Urdu productions as well.
Veteran actor Irfan Khosat explained that there was a strong tradition of putting up English theatre in Pakistan, which has disappeared over the years. He said that during the 1950s and 1960s, people such as Rafi Peer and Naeem Tahir adapted western plays while schools such as Government College had developed a vibrant theatre scene.
The development of the theatre scene in Karachi and Lahore, with their large metropolitan populations, has failed to expand like it should have. In universities, very few colleges teach theatre as a subject. The leading arts colleges that do, such as the National Academy of Performing Arts in Karachi, have become a dying breed, as old-school theatre stalwarts tend to be unwilling to adapt to modern techniques.
There are also problems as far as the commercial aspect is concerned. According to Khosat, ticket sales are generated through sponsorship and not by the general public, which ends up hurting the goal in the long run.
“Moreover, most of the population doesn’t understand English and catering to a certain niche is always challenging,” says Khosat. “These kids are new and while there is talent, there is still a long way for them to go.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2011.
With plays such as Bombay Dreams and The Phantom of the Opera successfully hitting the stage in recent years, the emergence of production groups in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi has seen a rise of English theatre in the mainstream performing arts.
The conscious development of English theatre in Pakistan started in 1990, when famed theatre director Shah Sharahbeel — who was then based in Lahore — started holding commercial productions by employing students from major universities.
Sharahbeel is widely considered a pioneer by most people in the industry because he was able to not only train talent but also create a line of producers, directors and actors from which the community was able to grow.
“I had always wanted to teach and make sure that the knowledge I possessed was passed on to those who were interested,” says Sharahbeel, who moved to London last year but returns to Pakistan to organise his productions. “We started a trend, because back then there were no opportunities to hone these talents.”
As a result, in Pakistan, there are now typically around 25 to 30 productions a year, if one includes the school productions; and major commercial shows can run for 25 to 30 nights. In Islamabad, a city not really known for its theatre, there are now seven theatre houses in operation; while there are three in Lahore and around two to three in Karachi.
These plays are usually adaptations of popular western plays and productions. Sharahbeel explained that Nida Butt in Karachi and a few others had started doing original plays, but maintained that criticising adaptations was absurd. “It’s a global village. Nobody accused British playwright Andrew Lloyd Webber of plagiarism when he adapted The Phantom of the Opera from a French novel,” said Sharahbeel. “We’re doing a service to theatre lovers since most of them can’t travel to France or England just to see these plays.”
But upcoming playwright Saad Sultan feels that the issue has to do with the Pakistani psyche, which would rather present international issues than assess its own. He explains that the English theatre is catered to a niche market since most plays in Lahore are held in Al-Hamra, which is located near most of the universities, where the plays can be easily marketed.
“You evolve in phases. Right now we’re going through an imitative period where we copy from other theatrical traditions; but now there’s a group of people trying to create original scripts,” said Sultan. “Our theatre tradition may not be thousands of years old, like the West, but it’s old enough to be called a tradition.”
According to the Hazaar Dastaan producer, Umer Hameed, the arts councils in the three major cities serve as a sort of hub for theatre where rehearsals and auditions take place.
The actors are usually amateurs who have very little theatre experience. “The talent is there but actors struggle with doing justice to their characters. However, over the last four to five years, some people have been going abroad to study theatre which is helping.”
Financially, however, holding a production remains a challenge. The arts councils charge high rates for rehearsals and box office support is minimal, which means that the industry is dependent on corporate sponsorship. For instance, the Karachi Arts Council can charge up to Rs35,000 per day for Urdu plays and Rs25,000 for English plays, explains Hameed.
“There is no entertainment nowadays. Where Punjabi theatre is thought of as vulgar, English plays in comparison provide a better alternative,” says Hameed. “We know what social class we are catering to and the good thing is that the market is a viable one.”
These experiments on the stage have revived an interest in theatre in the last few years and certain production houses are paving way for more Urdu productions as well.
Veteran actor Irfan Khosat explained that there was a strong tradition of putting up English theatre in Pakistan, which has disappeared over the years. He said that during the 1950s and 1960s, people such as Rafi Peer and Naeem Tahir adapted western plays while schools such as Government College had developed a vibrant theatre scene.
The development of the theatre scene in Karachi and Lahore, with their large metropolitan populations, has failed to expand like it should have. In universities, very few colleges teach theatre as a subject. The leading arts colleges that do, such as the National Academy of Performing Arts in Karachi, have become a dying breed, as old-school theatre stalwarts tend to be unwilling to adapt to modern techniques.
There are also problems as far as the commercial aspect is concerned. According to Khosat, ticket sales are generated through sponsorship and not by the general public, which ends up hurting the goal in the long run.
“Moreover, most of the population doesn’t understand English and catering to a certain niche is always challenging,” says Khosat. “These kids are new and while there is talent, there is still a long way for them to go.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2011.