Film and theatre (II)

KARACHI: This is with reference to Qaiser Iftikhar’s report of June 2 titled ‘10 things Pakistani theatre should do’. I don’t think the government ought to play a role in regulating theatre. Censorship issues aside, it should be up to those who are actually interested in the medium. If there is a market for plays that don’t have any ‘vulgar’ dialogues or ‘obscene’ dances, then by all means, produce shows like that. But one can hardly blame producers for not making them if they do not sell.

Does the writer want to fix all that is wrong in theatre or does he want to determine what theatre should be? There is a difference.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2010.