LAHORE, Sept 15: Lokai Theatre, an endeavour of youngsters which was launched a year ago in Lahore, staged a play 'Kahey Hussain' at Alhamra Art Center, The Mall on Thursday.

The Punjabi poetic and musical play has been directed and written by Khaqan Haider Ghazi. It is based on the life and philosophy of great Sufi poet Madhu Lal Hussain.

The play has been organised by Lokai Theatre in collaboration with the Lahore Arts Council.

A good number of people came to see the play and the hall was almost jam-packed. The set and lighting was impressive. The play had some rich sets such as Madhu Lal's shrine, court of Akbar and the set in which Walled City was depicted, all arranged by Rehan and Azam Khan.

Khaqan Haider Ghazi told Dawn that he had formed the theatre a year ago to create awareness among the masses about Sufi saints, their lives and works. He said next year he would stage a new play based on another Sufi poet's life.

Mr Ghazi said it was hard to gather youngsters for this type of theatre, however, he put in a lot of efforts and managed to have youngsters from the National College of Arts, the University of Punjab and from other cities of Punjab such as Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Sheikhupura.

He said he was thankful to the Lahore Arts Council for supporting his cause and providing the space to stage the play. “We have held a few workshops for our young team so that they can come up with qualitative theatre; recently we held a workshop in collaboration with Lok Rehas Theatre.”

The character of Shah Hussain was played by Zohaib Haider, of Madhu Lal by Asim Bilal and of King Akbar by Rana Babar. — Staff Reporter