The play performed by Beaconhouse North Nazimabad showed a journalist, a soon-to-be groom, a policeman and a teenager trying to find a way to defeat the zombies. PHOTO: IRFAN ALI/ EXPRESS
Thirty minutes might not be enough for some to act out a drama but for the students of the Beaconhouse School System, Southern region, the experience was not only challenging but enjoyable.
The school hosted a drama festival at the Bahria Auditorium in Karsaz on Friday for their four A’ Level schools in Karachi. “The drama festival is part of the curriculum [at Beaconhouse],” said Yasmin Aqeel, director of the southern region. “The festival has been going on for at least the last five year.”
Each school, represented by one group, was given 30 minutes to perform their English play. A timer, displayed at the front of the stage, was set to make sure students didn’t exceed the time limit.
The first play, performed by Beaconhouse College Campus Defence, was a comedy, titled ‘13 Ways to Kill a College Interview’. The play revolved around two interviewers and their unsuccessful quest to find a student for their university’s programme.
‘The Zombie Apocalypse’ was performed next by the group from North Nazimabad, in which a journalist, a soon-to-be groom, a policeman and a teenager try to find a way to defeat the zombies to no avail.
The play by Beaconhouse Gulshan Campus, ‘The Proposal’, set in 18th century Russia, revolved around a hypochondriac whose attempts to propose to the daughter of his neighbour end in a series of arguments with the daughter herself.
The final play, performed by the Beaconhouse PECHS campus, was a condensed version of The Crucible by Arthur Miller. In the re-enactment of the Salem witch trials, a group of girls lead their town and its officials to believe others are witches in order to save themselves.
All the participating schools had the crowd enraptured, but the PECHS group had people chanting and screaming. The students in the audience made their presence known by screaming their campus’ names and cheering their classmates on.
Television and film actor, Shakeel Yusuf Kamal, was the guest of honour and handed out awards to the students. He found the event “refreshing” in “this suffocating atmosphere”, telling the students they had a “volcano of talent”.
Instead of awarding a prize for the overall best play, the organisers decided to award the ‘best actor’ and ‘supporting actor’ from each play. “We used to have an award for the best play but it got very competitive. This is a festival, not a competition - we want to encourage everyone instead of leaving the students feeling disappointed,” explained Aqeel.
Shahryar Khan, a student of the PECHS campus, was one of the actors in The Crucible and played Reverend Parris in the play. He said that the students had been rehearsing since the beginning of January. “I enjoyed the experience,” he said. “I’m very dramatic, so I want to participate in next year’s festival as well.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 2nd, 2014.
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For the play Zombie Apocalypse, the character was runaway groom n not soon to be groom.. i wrote the script and the character.. kindly correct it