Hotel Mohenjodaro: A Play By Ajoka Theatre
Dedicated to the victims of terrorism in Pakistan, this play is brought to you by Ajoka Theatre, in collaboration with PeaceNiche/T2F
Wednesday, 15th Oct 2008 | 8:00 pm
Ghulam Abbas, the great Urdu short story writer, wrote “Hotel Mohenjodaro” in 1968. The story appears to be an account of a TV reporter from a troubled tribal area, or from the scene of a devastating suicide bombing. The retrogressive and intolerant ideology of religious fundamentalists, propagating an orthodox, rigid interpretation of Islam, the acquiescence of the establishment and the disastrous consequences of following the logic of a theocratic state, are so evident now. The mindset hasn’t changed: primitive thinking, deep-rooted prejudices, an irrational worldview, and a burning desire to destroy civilization and to self-annihilate …
The total take over by the turban-brigades of the story doesn’t seem unimaginable anymore. The havoc wreaked over the last few years, in the name of Jihad and Talibanization, is pushing us over the precipice and before we know it, we will be hurtling down into the abyss.
Adapted and Directed by Shahid Nadeem
We are delighted to welcome Ajoka Theatre to Karachi after a long gap of 10 years. Visit the Ajoka Theatre website: http://www.ajoka.org.pk
Date: Sunday 30th March, 2008
Time: 7:00 pm
Entry: Collect Your Free Pass From T2F (passes will have to be presented at the entrance)
Venue: Karachi Arts Council Auditorium
T2F Opening Hours
Ramzan Hours: Iftar to Midnight
Regular Hours: Noon to Midnight
Closed on Mondays
i have gone through the introduction of the Play Burqua Vaganza which is presented on the home Page of Ajoka. I am astonished to see that even the most cultured people of Pakistan (people from art are mostly assumed to be so) have failed to give a single reason to write such play against Hijab.
whatever is written should be revisited by you people and try to make some sense in what has been written.
The play seeks to start a dialogue on a subject that has become debatable as much within the Muslim societies as outside it. Even in the intro it objects to external bans on such wear as much as it does to its forced enforcement. No one other than a woman herself should have the right to choose how she wishes to dress. The play uses the Burqa only as a starting point to discuss several other issues of which the burqa, itself, is only a figurative entity and is, IMHO, a symptom of a greater malaise that we are facing today on both sides of an increasingly artificially created divide.
As for “have failed to give a single reason to write such play” playwights/artists need no justification for their works. They express what they feel.
Great performances. Ajoka should visit more often.
Pics of both plays at @
http://flickr.com/photos/darkcoldcoffee/tags/ajoka/
=)