THATTA: Theatre goers packed Shirazi Hall in Sujawal town on Friday night to watch a stage play Janhn diye mein tel kone (The earthen lamp without oil), the first after a decade, featuring renowned actors of Sindhi entertainment industry.

The play, which was organised to help revive the dying trend of theatre in remote areas, revolved around the theme of fast disappearing traditions of Sindhi culture, interfaith harmony, importance of skills and promotion of cultural diversity.

The story and the marvelous acting attracted people belonging to different segments of society from different parts of the province who applauded every dialogue and every move by their favourite actors and laughed heartily at comic acting by Javed Takani.

It was almost after a decade that the people of Sujawal were enjoying a stage play in their own town in which local actors also had a chance to showcase their talent.

Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Syed Ayaz Ali Shah said at the opening ceremony of the play that it was indeed a commendable move of National Academy of Performing Arts as well as local art circles who had taken the initiative to promote local talent. Such activities would be instrumental in keeping youth away from evil habits.

“Art has always played a pivotal role in the amelioration of society and I am hopeful that my constituency will produce eminent actors in future,” he said.

He said that he would request Sindh government to take concrete measures for promoting activities pertaining to art and culture in the backward areas of Sindh.

The director of the play Rafique Essani said that the play was written by Gul Gobind Malhi, who had tried to portray flaws in society, and gave a message to uphold good cultural norms and traditions in the testing times.

He said that there were innumerable gifted artists in Sindh who needed patronage of government and support of public to make their name. This play would revive the trend of stage plays in the remote district, he said.

Renowned Sindhi artists including Urs Narejo, Javed Takani, Khuda Dino Tharani, Ghul Mohammad, Nadeem Khatti and Ayshea Mahek played lead roles in the play.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2022