Theatre as an Industry

In our part of the world, theatre is struggling to acquire even a position of a respected occupation rather than an industry. At the time of partition, we did have theatre goers and doers but they mostly belonged to the Parsi families in Karachi and they were a theatre loving community. Theatre vanished away from Karachi with the Parsi migration to abroad. In Punjab, we had folk theatre in the form of ‘Lok Tamasha’ which was performed in Melas in the rural settings. Tufail Niazi and Alam Lohar were the famous names of lok Tamasha tradition.

The Muslims have no proper training in theatre; so rare names have been found in the early days of Pakistani theatre such as Agha Hasher, Khawaja Moinuddin, Ahmed Ali, Rafi Peer etc. There was a heavy colonial influence on their work. They have mostly adapted or translated European theatre. Although we do have a tradition of lok mela in our rural areas but in cities we have a colonised form of theatre. Mostly the elite class was impressed by British tradition of theatre so our theatre culture has been derived from English Theatre. Agha Hasher has translated Shakespearian plays because he was also under the influence of English drama. Theatre which would be representing our culture and emotions was not developed till date. We were unable to develop any theatrical tradition in Urdu Literature.

Theatre before COVID pandemic was getting pace up and there was a little bit of acceptance of theatre in the society that was developing with the time. The institutes like National Academy of Performing Arts and the Academy of Arts Council Karachi are contributing on a large scale to train young talent. The students are coming from other cities as well to train themselves. In Lahore, NCA and Ajoka Theatre group are trying to fill the gap. These institutes are trying to develop theatre as an industry by injecting new blood in this field. We need more theatre institutes and auditoriums nationwide especially in all the major cities of Pakistan. We need new directors and writers who would develop content according to our culture and talk about our own issues and crises. There is a huge void of writers in every medium of entertainment in our country. As we know that theatre is the mother medium of film & TV and even radio. But we constantly ignore this fact and our filmmakers want to make a commercially acclaimed blockbuster. I think we have to have several commissioned writers; if we really want to establish theatre as an independent industry because script is the spine of a box office hit.

The Government should create grants for directors to experiment with different genres of theatre. In my point of view, the finest production would only be created by the coordination of a writer and the director. Unfortunately, there are no funds available for the artist community to experiment with their craft or to create new varieties. Whenever a director wants to do a play, he/ she should show a concrete idea about the production. To play it safe, the financer puts his money on the most seasoned horse in the race so there will be no option left for directors. Consequently, the directors are presenting the same foreign dish over and over again; cooked with the local ingredients, decorated with farfetched garnishing. Our audience has lost their appetite for these already tasted dishes. It has resulted in the decline in the demand of theatre.

We should also develop a group of technicians who could deal with the technical side of theatre such as sound, lighting, set, costume & makeup. By developing these fields related to theatre; we can make theatre an industry which could consume talent and generate job opportunities.  Right now we are importing technical equipment from other countries even though our neighbouring country is manufacturing these products. They have bought franchises of state of the art equipment manufacturers. When we would have a home industry for equipment then we would be able to design more events and the cost will reduce on the overall technical assistance.

At the moment, we are practicing theatre which belongs to the 1930s; the old practice of box sets; with no surprising visuals. If we want to establish theatre as an industry, then we have to compete with films and make the whole theatre experience as watching a live film on stage. I think that this is the only way through which we would be able to pull the audience back to theatres and charm the theatre lover with the magic of live performances. It has a potential to become a major attraction for the tourists as well. The Government should invest in this industry not because it could produce a huge impact on the society but it would also help to project a softer image of Pakistan, intentionally.