Theatres in Punjab brace for another closure, artists in pain

Artists, stakeholders cry for help as government imposes ban on closed gatherings

LAHORE:

The fate of Punjab's theatres once again hang in the balance in view of the recent decision by the National Command and Action Centre (NCOC). Following the recent spike in Covid 19 infections, the Operation Center issued restrictions over large a public gathering which also includes leisure activities such as theatre.

This decision didn’t go down too well with Punjab’s theatre community which had resumed business only for three months after a long anti-business lockdown. According to the stakeholders, the peaks season of revenue which is summer and spring had already passed and now the theatres were barely working to make their ends meet.

Chairman Punjab Theatre Producers Association, Qaiser Sanaullah Khan stressed that theatre actors will not be able to survive another shutdown,

"The govt should at least allow for two-hour shows to take place otherwise the livelihood of thousands of families is going to suffer,” Sanaullah told The Express Tribune.

“Actors will literally die of hunger this time around. The Federal government should take into account the predicament we are in.”

The Chairman further exclaimed that the government is once again pushing the community into “the darkness of poverty.”

“We had just come out of a tough situation and now the government has pushed us back in the darkness of poverty. We will not accept this cruel decision and will take our protest to the CM house," he said.

Theatre producer Qaiser Javed noted that the artist community doesn’t deserve this treatment since everyone was already following SOPs.  “Around 100 cinemas in the country were already closed. Theatre was the only respite for the entertainment-starved masses and all of us (theatre owners) were actually following SOPS to ensure safe viewing. This decision doesn’t make sense at all,” Javed said.

Actor Shahid Khan deemed this move hypocritical on the government’s part as large political gatherings were still allowed to be held. "On one hand the government has imposed these cruel restrictions on our community while on the other, political gatherings are still being held.  Our theatre and cinemas should not be closed as we are still economically recovering from the previous lockdown.  Theatres continue to be the only source of income for thousands of actors and technicians," Khan said.

Expressing similar sentiments, stage dancer Irum Rana noted that people in her position would have no means left to earn their bread and butter.

"There are many dancers, female actors, and technician employed by theatres who are feeding their whole families by performing on stage.  Either the government listens to our plea or we end our lives, “ she said.

The federal government back in August lifted social distancing restrictions imposed on a majority of businesses in March. Among places that became functional included cinemas and theatre halls which have been shut for the past five months.

The theatre community during the lockdown had on multiple occasions appealed to the government to let them open for business on Eid. According to producers, major theatres faced a loss of around Rs110 million, while smaller ones lost around Rs6 million in the 25 days since the lockdown.

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