By Imran Shirvanee

For 16 days at the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA), the stage belonged to women from 25^th April to 10^th May. Main stage, basement, outdoors; the Academy celebrated women performing artists in a befitting manner.

It was song and dance and some very serious (and one quite funny) plays. It all started one fine Thursday evening with an opening ceremony where the objectives and the programme of the festival were announced. It was followed by Sheema Kermani’s play, Her Stories. Sheema took five women from our society—Atiya Faizee, Sarah Shagufta, Madam Azurie, Parween Qasim and Neelima Ganshyam—and narrated their stories in a manner that is unique. In typical Sheema Kermani style, she rewrote history in bold letters.

Kulsoom Aftab as Atiya Faizee was particularly noticeable, especially when she sang a song for one of her admirers. Sheema showed most of them, including Allama Iqbal. Mujtaba Xaidi did an excellent job of playing that important role in a very human character.

There were other plays in the festival with strong themes. NAPA alumnus Aisha Hasan staged three stories from Ismat Chughtai: Ghungat, Aadhi Aurat Aadha Khwaab, and Ek Shohar ki Talash Mein. The audience loved the stories. Nighat Sultana’s Raeesa ka Ramzan was inspired by a character from Dostoyevsky’s works. Raeesa is a street prostitute but she is unable to accept this. The way she is treated by society is also a contributory factor in her self-denial.

Shahid Mahmood Nadeem’s celebrated play, Bari, resulted in a standing ovation from the audience. Samina Seher’s performance, in particular, as a woman on death row was very moving. Rafi Pir’s Ankhyan was staged by Azad Theatre, a team that had especially flown in from Lahore. The play was in chaste Punjabi and the performers knew how to handle such a script for the audience. A gut-spilling comedy from Noel Coward, rechristened as Wapsi, was presented by Zarqa Naz. The play was well prepared and well received by a full house.

There were two plays for children as well, The Bobbles and Sargam. While the first one was in English, the other one was a free adaptation of Hollywood movie, the Sound of Music. Atif Badar once again proved what his seniority means. Three dance performances followed, with Sabiha Zia and her team presenting the story in movement form. Sumera Ali and her team presented some kathak and folk dances. Sumera’s poise and finesse was appreciated by the audience.

The last dance performance of the festival took place on the last day in the closing ceremony by Nighat Chaudhry, one of the finest exponents of kathak dancing in Pakistan. She presented a piece she has recently developed called Purdah, followed by dance Teen Taal. Her performance ended on a thumri. Her Teen Taal was exceptionally beautiful, with pirouettes and footwork so smooth that only an expert like her could achieve it.

The music scene was outstanding. On the third night, Pireh Moosa took to the stage with her debut solo album preview. A musician and song writer having classical training in piano and Western vocals from a young age, Pireh’s album Shades of Blue spoke volumes of her capabilities. Popular singer from the walled city of Lahore, Sawera Ali sang right into the hearts of Karachiites with her rendition of Nur Jehan’s songs. She also sang some Punjabi folk songs, inspiring audience to sing along with her. TV playback singer Alycia Dias presented songs in English as well as in Urdu. She enthralled the audience with her singing style. The musical journey also had Bazm-e Sangeet, a nostalgic evening with Nazia Zuberi-Hasan. Her performance included works from Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Allama Iqbal, Fehmida Riaz and Bahadur Shah Zafar. Some of the songs she sang were hits by Mehdi Hasan, Habib Wali Muhammad and Iqbal Bano. The Zia Mohyeddin Theater where most of the events of the festival were held, filled to the brim for her performance with the fans sitting even on stairs. The very next day, Seerat Jafri and her Karachi Jazz Band paid tribute to women jazz singers as well as to pop icon Nazia Hasan with full house.

A special performance was held on 8^th May with American all-women country-pop band Raining Jane performing at the festival. The quartet from Los Angeles played from their works, and the audience simply fell in love with them.

The grand finale was a surprise inclusion, because it was not mentioned in the festival brochure. Noted singer Humera Channa sang some of her all-time hits as well as some others from the golden era of the Pakistan film industry. She sang Nur Jehan which the audience loved.

On the sidelines of the main festival, there were five documentaries, six street plays and poetry recitals. NAPA students presented four of the street plays, matching the quality and the standards set by the professionals who presented the other two.

The festival ended on a high note. It had started with a full house for Her Stories, and ended with the crowd flooding the ZM Theater for Nighat Chaudhry and Humera Channa. Throughout the festival, there were days when even on weekdays, there were houseful shows. NAPA CEO Junaid Zuberi said at the end of the festival, this was only the beginning as he planned to make it a regular show every year.