Written by: Abeera Akhtar
Posted on: April 12, 2018 | 
| 中文
The team of Theatre Wallay
In Pakistan, development has three signposts: roads, housing societies and the latest trend, metros.
But to this day, the arts remain highly neglected. And that is what Theatre Wallay focused upon through their insightful and engaging play, Zard Paton Ka Ban (Forest of Yellow Leaves). The play revolves around the obstacles faced by an acting group as they try to find a place to rehearse, and through their story nostalgia for the yesteryears is evoked. The play rewinds to simpler days when art flourished under the shade of a tree and concludes on the madness of extremism that has snatched this freedom away. Through rapid dialogue, and monologues addressed to the audience, the stage actors connected with the audience, and made them a part of their journey.
An Islamabad based theater troupe, the Theatre Wallay started off with shows in their hometown, followed by standing ovations at the Pakistan American Cultural Center, Karachi and now they are finally performing in Lahore. The play is a must watch for all those involved or even remotely interested in the arts, for they will surely relate with the play’s theme of frustration faced by artists.
Starting off with a beautiful tabla and sitar performance, the audience was drawn in from the very first minute. The dialogue between the stage actors that started off the play served to engage the audience. However, what really left a mark were the darker themes which could have easily become preachy, and yet, connected with the audience due to everyone’s personal experiences of dealing with terrorism, bigotry and politics. Showing the emotional impact of such incidents through various perspectives, allowed the audience to connect with the actors and live vicariously through their experience. You could feel the pain of the anchor as he read through a death toll that included his friend, the fear of the father as he rushed home from the park because a children’s park was targeted in another city of Pakistan, and the fear of a twelve year old as her school became a fort after the APS attack.
It is a testament to the brilliant script, and to the direction of the play by Fizza Hasan that it engaged the audience, besetting our society. Razia Ibrar’s beautiful voice truly brought the show together, and left the audience with a feeling that was both eerie and comforting at the same time. All cast members, including Ammar Khalid, Fizza Hasan, Zainab Hasan, Rabia Pasha, Imran Iftikhar, Shahzaib Wahlah, Razia Abrar and Umer Khan, had great chemistry, and must be commended for their performances.
Given the world we live in, and the country we inhabit, such pieces are to be lauded since they lead to reflection amongst the audience. The nuances in the dialogue, and the reality of the situations were a clear reflection of the research that had gone into the play.
It must be noted that the group aren’t just talking the talk, but leading by example. To deal with the lack of public spaces for artists, they have converted a chicken farm in Islamabad into a space for the arts. Our hope for the revival of the Pakistan art scene lies with such people with indomitable spirit, who continue to perform regardless of the adverse circumstances.
All pictures provided by Ikram Ullah Khan.
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