Daily Times

LAHORE: The 2nd Edition of Ajoka Theatre’s Annual Youth Drama Fest attracted a large number of youngsters, who thoroughly enjoyed watching the theatrical performances of students belonging to different universities at the Bukhari Auditorium of Government College University (GCU).

On third day of the drama fest titled ‘Empower Youth Festival’, students of different educational institutions highlighted some grave social issues. Apart from Ajoka troupe, teams from Punjab University, Lahore University of Management Science (LUMS), Agricultural University Faisalabad, Actor Studio Karachi and Sangat Theatre Group presented their performances.

Dramatic Society of Punjab University presented “Ghulam”, which was written and directed by Sibte Hasan. “Ghulam” sets in the time of partition, looks beyond the divisions of caste & creed and raised the question: are we free or still Ghulam?

Actor Studio Karachi presented a strong political play titled “Kuttey”, which was about liberating dictatorship and its efforts to subjugate the populace it purports to liberate. The play was based on a starving man and his traumatised wife seeking solace from dictatorship, but instead they are fed a diet of promises and slogans.

Teams from LUMS and Sangat Group gained appreciation on the second day. “Shehr-e-Asaib” by Dramaline of LUMS revolved around a group of friends discussing current issues, followed by their personal stories, which highlighted hypocrisy and double standards. The track is intertwined with the story of a poor family and leads to unexpected and shocking results.

“Chog Kusambay di” written by Najam Hussain Syed was based on Baba Bulleh Shah’s ‘kafi’. It was a song of women picking kusamba flowers. Kusamba is a flower used to extract red dye but red is not just a color, thus kusamba becomes a symbol of falsehood in Punjabi tradition. “Kafi” was very dramatic and all the characters became alive by verse in the play as the flower pickers faced the exploitation and rebel in the end.