The National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) on Wednesday announced the holding of the NAPA Repertory Festival, a celebration of theatre and music bringing together some of the institution’s most accomplished alumni on the stage where they first learned their craft. The festival is being held from May 8 to 23 at NAPA’s Zia Mohyeddin Theater.
In a press conference addressed by CEO NAPA Jarri Masood, HoD Music Hamza Jafri, and HoD Theater Arts Bazelah Mustafa, the Academy announced that the festival would feature six theater performances and three musical evenings performed by alumni who have gone on to define Pakistani theater and music.
CEO NAPA Jarri Masood said that for over two decades, NAPA had been the birthplace of Pakistan’s finest performing artistes. Led for decades by the legendary Zia Mohyeddin, the institution has stood as Pakistan’s most celebrated home of performing arts, setting the standard for theatrical and musical excellence since its inception in 2005.
He said the NAPA Repertory Festival was a celebration of that legacy. This is the best of what NAPA built in twenty years, returning to the stage where it all began, he asserted. The two HoDs later gave out the details of the festival along with its schedule. The festival would kick off on May 8 with a Sharr White play, Annapurna, which is adapted into Urdu by Noreen Gulwani and directed by Moazzam Malik. It would be followed by Mulaqat, a Jean Pierre Martinez play adapted into Urdu by Waqas Akhtar and directed by Osama Ranjha.
Next in line is Edward Albee’s acclaimed Zoo Story, adapted into Urdu and directed by Babar Ali. Then an evening of dastaangoi, Aik tha baadshah, would be performed by Fawad Khan, Meesam Naqvi, and Nazar ul-Hasan.
A live music concert is the next event, with Arsalan Pareyal Trio, and Muhamad Minaam being the performers. The festival would continue with Zeest, a play written and directed by Kashif Hussain, and then Hide Seek by Derek Benfield. It is adapted into Urdu by Babar Jamal and directed by Zarqa Naz.
The festival ends with two back-to-back concerts—a Piano Series featuring Zeeshan Zafar, Julian Qaiser, and Philip Shahid, and then Transcendence, a Sufi music performance by Ahsan Bari. All plays are being held for two days while musical performances are for single days only.
