Daily Times

LAHORE: The Progressive Writers Association (PWA) paid a rich tribute to the late Ajoka Theatre founding director Madeeha Gauhar in its weekly session held at the historic Pak Tea House on Sunday.

Veteran artist Naeem Tahir presided the session whereas Ajoka Theatre Executive Director Shahid Nadeem, veteran broadcaster Yasmin Tahir, human rights activist and well known actress Faryal Gauhar and Tanveer Jahan were chief guests of the special evening.

PWA Secretary Javed Aftab hosted the evening which was also attended by prolific writers, theatre and human rights activists including Raza Rumi, Nirvaan Nadeem, Sohail Warraich, etc. All the speakers paid glowing tributes to Madeeha Gauhar’s progressive mindset, immense passion and commitment towards socially relevant and meaningful theatre.

Raza Rumi shared that all her life, Madeeha was truly an icon of theatre and human rights movements in Pakistan. He said that she raised the voice of oppressed segments of society through her outstanding plays and used theatre as a medium of social awareness. Naeem Tahir spoke about Madeeha’s unique contribution in revival of socially relevant theatre in Pakistan. He highlighted the theatre scenario of 1980s before Ajoka Theatre’s inception and the impact which Ajoka Theatre made on Pakistan’s theatre landscape through its brilliant productions.

Ajoka Theatre also organised five-day summer training workshop titled Acting Master Class which concluded after spectacular display of improvised productions based on historical plays including “Dara” and “Kaun Hai Yeh Gustakh?”

Divided in groups, the participants of the workshop presented the various powerful scenes convincingly from both the plays.

Special guests at the concluding ceremony were Ajoka Theatre Chairperson Zara Salman, who along with Shahid Mahmood Nadeem and trainer Nirvaan Nadeem analysed the performances and distributed certificates among the participants. The judges also gave valuable tips while sharing their experiences with the aspiring actors.

Zara Salman encouraged the young actors and said that artists should pay special attention to their script otherwise they will fail to get accuracy of dialogue delivery during live performances. Shahid said that television, theatre and film are different mediums and have diverse requirements; actors should keep basic techniques in mind so he can perform accurately.

Nirvaan, who conducted the workshop, said he was very happy with the response of the participants who had learnt a lot in a short span of time. He said that mere passion for acting is not enough; commitment and discipline have equal importance in order to become an excellent performer.

During the workshop, eminent actress Savera Nadeem and Faryal Gauhar also conducted exclusive sessions and shared their experience of acting for theatre and television with the participants. The participants in their feedback expressed their satisfaction at what they had been able to achieve in five days and appreciated the role played by Nirvaan and the opportunity provided by Ajoka Theatre.

Published in Daily Times, July 24^th 2018.