By Play Review

Date:16-09-06

Source: Daily Times

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), in collaboration with Ajoka Theatre, performed a play featuring a visa-free and nuke-free South Asian Convention. The play started an hour late and the hall was sold out. The play ‘Kahin Der Na Ho Jaye’ was part of an effort to oppose the visa policy of the Pakistani and Indian governments. The story depicted the life of two sisters who were separated in the partition. Both tried all their lives to obtain a visa so that they could meet each other. The play ends when one dies in the attempt to find her sister in India. The play was inspired by Amreeta Preetam’s novel ‘Pinjar’ and the Indian film ‘Mamun’. The story was mockery of the governments’ perception that by creating borders and limiting contacts by visas, they could kill of relations. The play was written by Sammer Afzal and directed by Ayesha Arif. Students from various institutions were participated in the play. Bakht Ali played Gurpeet, Hani S Cheema played Parmeet, Raza Naqvi played Harbinder Singh, Zeeshan Javed played Raam Laal, Kamil S Cheema played Sukhjeet, Usman Zia played Muner, SM Aman Bashir played Rasheed, Usman Shiekh played Suneel and Geeta was played by Uzma Arif. Ayesha Arif told Daily Times that this was her first play as director. She said that this experience was wonderful and that she had learnt a lot. “The message we are trying to convey comes across well and touches hearts,” she added. Another play was performed by Ajoka Theatre, featuring the youth of Toba Tek Singh. The play was based on the Kashmir dispute and was also related to peace and visa-free policies. Hina Farooq/Photo by Abid Nawaz