People flock to see ‘off season’ theatre in Srinagar

Srinagar: A large number of people are flocking to witness off-season theatre. The play, in Urdu, is titled ‘Hum Zinda Hai’ (We Are Alive), has been running to packed houses. The play deals with problems that people are facing in the aftermath of militancy. Theatre is a strong part of Kashmir’s culture and it has been traditionally associated with the people. But traditionally, it has been viewed as an activity fit for the warmer seasons. “I had thought of doing it in mid January. I wanted to do this in the winter. So, there is no proper stage here as such. This is not a proper stage for doing theatre. But I tried and thought why should I stop? If we are low on technicalities then why should we stop our theatre activities? So we had to do it. This was a challenge and we wanted to do it in the winters only,” said Mushtaq Ali, the director of the play. The actors, on their part, also feel satisfied to have participated in the play and broken the convention of not enacting plays during the winter. “Since it is winter, so no theatre is normally held here at this time. So, we decided to do something here and we have learnt a lot from our seniors as they used to do things during the winter as well. We wanted to give a message to the people and we believe we have succeeded in it,” said Tauqeera, an actress, who participated in the play. Over the last few years, theatre in the Kashmir Valley had been going through a period of lull, but now, there has been a revival of sorts. ANI