‘Saadhay 14 August’ goes on stage in May

KARACHI:

After quarter and one-and-a-quarter, the audience will get the treat to watch half of August 14, the last of the trilogy by Anwer Maqsood.

Arts Council of Pakistan (ACP) Karachi and Kopykats Productions are all set to bring theatrical marvel of "Saadhay 14 August", the last of the 14 August trilogy, directed by Dawar Mehmood and written by Anwar Maqsood.

The play will be performed in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad starting in May 2022.

A press conference was held at ACP Auditorium II in which intellectual Anwar Maqsood, ACP President Muhammad Ahmad Shah, director Dawar Mahmood, and Salman Hussain were present.

Anwar Maqsood said that in 2011 "we did Ponay 14 August, people said why not 14 August; I said we will announce on 14th August, three years later we did Sawa 14 August, this is the last episode of this series."

Talking about the story of the theatre plaay, Anwar Maqsood said that following the success of "Ponaay 14 August" & "Sawa 14 August", the last part of the 14 August trilogy focuses on the great divide between Hindustan and Pakistan, Capturing Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi through their journey from Kashmir to Lahore, and a train route via Lahore to Delhi, ending with a flight from Delhi to London.

The journey delves into conversations between the two where both barristers clash for one last time on a neutral ground which was once the great British Empire. He said that after Eid you will be able to watch this play in Arts Council Karachi. Dawar Mahmood is a very good director, he added. New artists were given opportunities in previous theaters, today the same artists have become great artists in TV dramas.

Mohammad Ahmad Shah said that due to the covid, where all the activities were affected, it also had an impact on the culture.

Expressing his views, Salman Hussain said that we are proud to share the stage with Anwar Maqsood. Like the previous two theaters, Abbas Ali Khan will compose the music for the Saadhay 14 August.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th, 2022.