Rafi Peer veers towards festive season

Theatre group to organise four festivals showcasing best of performing arts come November

LAHORE:

The flourishing local theatre scene owes its evolution to initiatives, such as the Rafi Peer Theatre, which are committed to standardising the branch of performing arts in the country. Having maintained its standing through the 41 years of its running, the theatre group has lent impetus to growth in the field and continues to offer inspiration to potential thespians. Usman Peerzada, the frontman of the organisation, talks to The Express Tribune about its upcoming festivals, slated to begin in November.

“This year, we aim at bringing forward the best of performing arts and the entertainment industry at the Rafi Peer events to revive creative activities in the country,” he said. “Promotion of arts and culture is on the horizon and this is why good films are also being produced in recent years,” added Peerzada, who is set to stage four major events in the city.

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The Youth Performing Arts Festival is scheduled to take place from November 19 to 22, while the National Folk Puppet Festival will open for audiences between November 27 and 29. In the following month, a two-day Mystic Music Sufi Festival will begin on December 11, and the International Film Festival will go on from December 17 to 19. Peerzada and his team were scheduled to kickstart the preparations after Eid.

In an attempt to encourage cross-cultural diversity, Peerzada stated that the festivals will aim at attracting performing art teams from around the world. “Drama teams from Germany and other countries have performed in their native languages at our festivals in the past and the people of our country have watched their plays enthusiastically,” he noted. But he lamented how recent times have seen limited participation of foreign artists in local events.

In terms of local talent, Peerzada feels the country has immense potential. “There’s no lack of talent in Pakistan. Despite there being limited facilities and education [in the field], our youth is performing well in all sorts of artistic activities,” he said. “Our motive is also to make the people of our country realise what the arts really are, emphasising the role of performing arts in a civilised society.”

Peerzada feels that there’s still room for the growth of parallel theatre in the country. “We haven’t worked enough to promote parallel theatre and performing arts in our country, which is also why we have no one left to write for parallel theatre. There are only a few people who are able to act in this type of theatre as well,” he explained. He also cited the commercialisation of theatre and the vulgarity it breeds as reasons behind disregarding parallel theatre. But with the efforts of certain elements to bring the form to the forefront, he remains hopeful. “Parallel theatre may have been sidelined but the services of Rafi Peer and Madeeha Gauhar in this regard are appreciable,” he stated.



Highlighting the need to take inspiration from across the border, Peerzada shared, “We should learn from India, where artistic activities are at their peak. The reason for this is they realised the importance of parallel theatre soon after their inception. Jawaharlal Nehru set up the National School of Drama in India in 1959 and profound Indian artists, such as Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Kirron Kher, are graduates of the institute.” According to him, education in the arts must be considered a priority on the governmental level. “There’s a need to teach the performing arts at university level and develop academic programmes in the area,” said Peerzada.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2015.

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