9th Youth Performing Arts Festival starts November 24

The festival will feature drama, mime, filmmaking, dance and music performances by schools, young artist groups.

LAHORE: Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop’s (RPTW) 9th Youth Performing Arts Festival will start from November 24 at the Alhamra Cultural Complex.

The festival will feature drama, mime, filmmaking, dance and music performances by Lahore’s education institutions and young artist groups. This is the first RPTW festival being held at the Alhamra Cultural Complex since cracker bombs went of at the World Performing Arts Festival in 2008. The festival has been scaled down due to security concerns and other issues. Last year the festival took place at Peeru’s Café. However, many people said they could not attend as the café is far from city centre.

The festival starts on Wednesday with a theatre performance at Hall No 1. City School Model Town, National College of Arts (NCA), Alif Adab and SICAS Salamat School will perform on the first day. The performances will take place at Hall No 1, Hall No 2 and the Open Air Theatre between 6 pm and 10:30 pm daily.

The second day of the festival will feature performances by the University of Management and Technology (UMT), City School Model Town, Beaconhouse National University (BNU) and Punjab University (PU). On the third day, the Lahore University of Management Sciences, University of Central Punjab (UCP), Mandwah Theatre and Gujranwala Arts Council will perform. The fourth day showcases performances by UCP, NCA, Taka Tak Band, BNU and Preaching Hippocrates Band. The fifth day brings forth performances by Thespian Theatre, Zambeel Productions, NCA, Rear Productions and Umair Kathak Dancer. On the sixth day, UMT, UET and BNU will perform. The last day of the festival will feature performances by Lahore Grammar School, Punjab University, Hassan, UCP’s Nauman and Barbutt of UMT.

Addressing a press conference, RPTW creative director Faizan Peerzada said that strict security measures would be taken at the festival. He said that one of the main objectives of the festival included enacting a young global identity through performing arts.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23^rd, 2010.