Remembering Zia Mohyeddin at NAPA

At the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA), on Saturday, February 14, an evening titled Sada Baqi Hai paid homage to the institution’s founder, Zia Mohyeddin, inside the theatre that bears his name. The programme revisited Mohyeddin’s celebrated parhant tradition, a style of recitation he elevated into an art form defined by precision, pause and subtle control. Three of his students, Nazar ul Hassan, Rahil Siddiqui and Samhan Ghazi, took to the stage to perform selected works once presented by their mentor. The repertoire ranged from poetry by Faiz Ahmed Faiz and N M Rashid to prose by Ashfaq Ahmed and others.

The recitations didn’t imitate Mohyeddin’s style, but you could feel his influence. Each sentence was delivered with measured cadence and pause that carried his imprint. Live music added depth without stealing focus. Waqas Gulab on tabla, Gul Mohammad on sarangi and Shehzad Hussain on sitar backed the readings with subtlety. The auditorium was full. Mohyeddin’s voice may no longer command the stage, but his method certainly does.

Shakespeare, rearranged

On Friday, February 13, the Zia Mohyeddin Theatre at NAPA hosted Crown of Ashes, a production arranged and directed by Zarqa Naz. The play stitched together scenes from five works by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. The selected plays included Hamlet, Macbeth, Richard III, Othello and Romeo and Juliet, merged together to create a continuous storyline.

Rather than present isolated excerpts, the production aimed to connect the plays into a single dramatic odyssey. Themes of power, ambition, betrayal and doomed love echoed across the narrative.

Shakespeare’s world felt interconnected in ways you might not notice when reading the plays separately, but when presented in this fashion, the ideas behind each emerged immediately. It was also an experimental presentation of some of the Bard’s most popular works.

The ensemble cast, including Ahad Tauqeer, Aqsa Ayub, Hammad Khan, Iqra Ayub, Jahanzeb Naviwala, Rachna Kirplani, Samhan Ghazi and Zulfiqar Ghauri, handled the shifts with confidence. The experiment was not about reinventing Shakespeare but about presenting him in a different manner. By compressing multiple tragedies into a single arc, Crown of Ashes invited audiences to see an interdependent world rather than a fragmented one. The warm response suggested that there is still an appetite for literary material, especially when it is staged with imagination.

Laughter and longing at the Awami
Theatre Festival

The 26-day Awami Theatre Festival 2026, organised by the Arts Council of Pakistan, continued to draw sizeable crowds throughout its run. Two recent plays, held on February 14 and 15, highlighted just how different the experience could be, underscoring the festival’s impressive range.

The comedy Nehlay Pe Dehla, written by Parvez Siddiqui, leaned into humour rooted in everyday anxieties. A debt-ridden family waits for an uncle returning from South Africa. Robbers overhear talk of three crore rupees and, out of sympathy, decide to clear the family’s debts. One robber pretends to be the uncle at a birthday party. As chaos erupts, it becomes clear that the actual fortune is just Rs 28,500. The police get involved and the confusion reaches its peak. It is populist theatre designed purely to make you laugh.

On day 25 of the festival, the tone shifted with Mujh Mein Tu Maujood. Written by Anwar Jafri and directed by renowned artist Sheema Kermani, the production featured a strong ensemble including Sheema Kermani, Muhammad Asif, Shazia Adnan, Anwaruddin, Harris Khan, Naina Black, Imran Khan, Bilal Qureshi and Adnan Haroon.

The play explored Sufi philosophy through storytelling, live music and choreographed dance. Poetry by Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai and Kabir guided its themes of divine love, tolerance and spiritual searching. The story followed truth-seekers facing societal resistance. By bringing their struggles to the stage, the production invited audiences to reflect on harmony, compassion and overcoming prejudice. The mix of narrative, music and dance created a theatrical experience that resonated deeply with audiences.

Where Nehlay Pe Dehla was fast and exaggerated, Mujh Mein Tu Maujood was still and symbolic. Both held the audience’s attention, though in very different ways. The Awami Theatre Festival 2026 has now concluded.