Breathing life to glass
Napa Reparatory Theater’s 14th production “Dil Ka Kiya Rang Karoon” is to open at the Arts Council by mid-July.
Adapting a play by Tennessee Williams is no mean feat. Which is why Napa Reparatory Theater’s 14th production “Dil Ka Kiya Rang Karoon”, an altercation of the acclaimed “The Glass Menagerie” which is scheduled to open at the Arts Council Auditorium by mid-July, could raise a few questions in the minds of Williams’ many fans.
The play, which was originally set during the time of the Great Depression, addresses the relations between a family of three, mother, daughter and son, with the latter also acting as the narrator in the play. It highlights a mother’s desire to want better things for her children than what she may have had in her youth.
The adaptation, which has been translated by Iqbal Nazr and directed by Anjum Ayaz, replicates the cast of four actors and places them in a lower-middle class household in Karachi post-partition, with Hina Dilpazir playing the part of Amanda and Jameela Muhammad as Laura from the original script.
“It is a very strong and solid play,” said Rahat Kazmi, the artistic director at Napa, as he introduced the production at a press briefing on Monday. “Hina, though has acted several times on television, is performing for the first time on stage with Jameela, a student from the Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture, who is playing her daughter.”
“The play deals with the existence of a family in a capitalist society. It is about distant relationships, with autobiographical details provided by the narrator, who is actually the writer himself,” said Ayaz. “It will be a challenge for us and we plan to give our very best to the audience.”
Dilpazir commended Napa’s efforts in grooming people to read and write as well as encouraging them to perform on stage. “TV does give one much more exposure. But theater is one place where we can judge ourselves then and there by our performance on stage and the reaction of the audience,” she said.
Jameela, who is meant to go up on stage with the most challenging role in the play, that of a young girl torn between the decisions of her mother and brother, admits that she, as the most inexperienced actor of the lot, was initially unsure of whether she would be able to play the part or not.
“When I first came for an audition, I did not expect that I would be selected for the play. But somehow, I managed. Now I really don’t feel that I am new here. It is amazing,” she said.
When asked why Napa relies on adaptations and translations instead of its own productions, Napa’s Arshad Mehmood said that initially, the reason behind establishing Napa was to produce classics from across the globe and present them on stage in Pakistan.
“In England, I have seen Russian and French plays being performed on stage. Literature is everyone’s heritage and is not limited to time and space,” Kazmi added.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2010.
The play, which was originally set during the time of the Great Depression, addresses the relations between a family of three, mother, daughter and son, with the latter also acting as the narrator in the play. It highlights a mother’s desire to want better things for her children than what she may have had in her youth.
The adaptation, which has been translated by Iqbal Nazr and directed by Anjum Ayaz, replicates the cast of four actors and places them in a lower-middle class household in Karachi post-partition, with Hina Dilpazir playing the part of Amanda and Jameela Muhammad as Laura from the original script.
“It is a very strong and solid play,” said Rahat Kazmi, the artistic director at Napa, as he introduced the production at a press briefing on Monday. “Hina, though has acted several times on television, is performing for the first time on stage with Jameela, a student from the Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture, who is playing her daughter.”
“The play deals with the existence of a family in a capitalist society. It is about distant relationships, with autobiographical details provided by the narrator, who is actually the writer himself,” said Ayaz. “It will be a challenge for us and we plan to give our very best to the audience.”
Dilpazir commended Napa’s efforts in grooming people to read and write as well as encouraging them to perform on stage. “TV does give one much more exposure. But theater is one place where we can judge ourselves then and there by our performance on stage and the reaction of the audience,” she said.
Jameela, who is meant to go up on stage with the most challenging role in the play, that of a young girl torn between the decisions of her mother and brother, admits that she, as the most inexperienced actor of the lot, was initially unsure of whether she would be able to play the part or not.
“When I first came for an audition, I did not expect that I would be selected for the play. But somehow, I managed. Now I really don’t feel that I am new here. It is amazing,” she said.
When asked why Napa relies on adaptations and translations instead of its own productions, Napa’s Arshad Mehmood said that initially, the reason behind establishing Napa was to produce classics from across the globe and present them on stage in Pakistan.
“In England, I have seen Russian and French plays being performed on stage. Literature is everyone’s heritage and is not limited to time and space,” Kazmi added.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2010.