All The World’s A Stage: WORLD PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL 2008

Amidst the bomb scare and the recession despair, the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop’s (RPTW) World Performing Arts Festival kicked into action in Lahore from November 13.It was a tall order putting up the show this year with no corporate sponsorship, phenomenally expensive air fare and a tremendous risk of terrorist attacks. However the RPTW has managed to put a brave front and decided to give their best to this, their 25th festival. The only consistent assistance from the previous years was the collaboration with the Royal Norwegian Embassy and the Lahore Arts Council.

What was also notable this year was the complete disengagement with government officials. Last year’s show was inaugurated by the then Lahore Governor who also attended some of the performances. The year before that, former President Pervez Musharraf had cut the ribbon.

This year the management decided to make Begum Rafi Peer inaugurate the festival and described her as the “biggest VIP as she is the mother of the seven Peerzadas managing the event and has attended every festival since the past 25 years.” However, Faizaan Peerzada, the president of the RPTW, hoped for good support from the government in the provision of extra security.

When probed by as to how the RPTW had managed to put up a festival of such a huge scale despite the lack of sponsorship Faizaan said that his company ha had invested in acquiring its own lighting, sound, props and camps which slashed expenses almost by half. He said that the corporate that had been sponsoring the show since the past several years could not do so this year due to recession. Its ironic though as the said corporate has literally bombarded television and billboards throughout the city with its new campaign ads. Surely, priority lies with making the buck while there’s the chance and patronising the arts becomes a preoccupation for affluent times.

Coming back to the festival, despite the issues of travel advisories by international embassies, some 300 delegates from 10 countries made it to Lahore this year. Overall, some 24 theatre performances have been staged over the course of the 11-day festival that ends today by artistes from Pakistan, India, UK, USA, Afghanistan, Germany and Italy. The genres include an assortment of mime, street theatre and stand-up comedy among others. The 14 puppet performances include string, hands and shadow techniques with artistes from Ireland, Netherlands, Bulgaria, India, Iran, Czech Republic, France and Pakistan performing. A highlight this year was the Uncle Sargam Show which was missed during the past festivals.

The concert nights held under a specific theme each night included performances by Ali Azmat and Overload in Rock Night, Strings in Pop Night, Tina Sani in Ghazal Night and Abida Parveen in Mystic Night among a host of other performers.The dance performances have been dominated by India this year with five groups from the country performing genres of Bharat Natyam, Kathak and the Rajasthani folk dance. The Pakistani entries include Sheema Kirmani, Fasihur Rehman and Wahab Shah.

A total of 31 films were originally scheduled for screening during the festival with entries from Pakistan, France, Turkey and a major chunk from India’s parallel and commercial cinema such as Gandhi My Father, Chameli, Main Zinda Hoon, Dharavi, etc.

Despite, however, some great performances, the festival has not managed to pull crowds in this year and perhaps this can be attributed to not only security concerns but also the steep ticket fare (Rs500 per head for a concert night and for international performances). The Youth Performing Arts Festival held only last month had witnessed long queues outside the venue in Lahore along with jam-packed performances. However, the WPAF, despite having professional performances by international groups, has only managed to draw a handful of art aficionados. The management, realising the importance of drawing families, included folk puppetry in the schedule by the fifth day. Usually it has been an important part of the festival from the start and the cheaper tickets facilitate the people more.

There have been great crowd-pullers though like the stand up comedians Sadia Mirza from the UK and Azhar Usman from the US. While Shazia Mirza’s 60-minute performance was subtle and amusing, it was Azhar Usman who had the audience rolling with laughter. The bearded comedian who has grown up in Chicago has parents from Patna in India and hence has been exposed to desi culture. He whiplashed the quintessential desi trait of bootlegging famous brands into great imitations of ‘Tommy Hilfinger’, ‘Abhibaas’ and ‘Nice’. His anecdotes of facing discrimination, of desis distorting English pronunciation (specially the Ws and the Vs) and of desi aunties was hilarious. The comedian brilliantly handled comments from the audience, spinning a cannonball of humour back to a particular smart aleck who tried to get the better of him. The audience loved him and raised a cry for an encore.

The Jack and Joe Theatre from Italy and Germany performed Life Back about the mundane antics of two friends, one of whom is resurrected on the anguished pleas of the other. Though the performance was fine, it was the stage effects that really caught my attention. In one of the sequences, golden light thrown on to round mirrors hanging from strings tied to the ceiling created a dazzling effect into the dark hall. When a semi-reflective silver sheet was added to the background it created a surreal look. In another, the use of a falling feather, golden light, bubbles in the air and cigarette smoke looked very poetical.

Afghanistan’s Aftaab Theatre presented Tartuffe (with English subtitles). Adapted from the play by French playwright Moliere, it was directed by French director Helen Cinque. The group will also perform in India and then in Paris. Tartuffe is about a priest who manipulates his way into a nobleman’s house and attempts at having a licestious affair with his wife.

Despite this year’s annoyances of scheduling glitches and a higher performance ticket fare, the RPTW management must be commended for holding the show in the dire circumstances. The festival is a great platform to expose the public to the universal messages of life from art around the world. And it works both ways. In the innocent words of the Italian puppeteer Elizabetta Potasso who is engaged with the ‘all women’ French Compagnie Filles en Tropiques that uses its income for the welfare of street children in developing countries, “It’s important for me to come to Pakistan in this festival despite the circumstances. Otherwise who will tell the people back home that you guys also have two eyes, two ears, two legs and arms and you also laugh on the same jokes as we do.”

This article was published in Images, Dawn Newspaper on November 23, 2008.