ISLAMABAD:Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) here Wednesday started a series of street theater performances to highlight issues related to persons with disabilities, the environment, and social issues.
The play “Hum Kar Saktay Hain” is being presented at various slums of the federal capital by the participants of three-week theatre training at PNCA and raises issues related to PWDs, their social inclusion, and educating the masses about the problems faced by PWDs.
Improving access to income-generating activities for young adults with and without disabilities in selected low-income areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the workshop was organized by Pak Women, CBM, and Human and Social Development in collaboration with PNCA.
The street theater aims at creating awareness of the rights of PWDs by presenting different stories. Various sessions of the workshop guided young and budding actors and performing art lovers about the theoretical and practical steps of acting.
PNCA along with senior artists and theater experts provided institutional support to the theatre lovers of Pakistan and promotion of street theatre as well, said Waqar Azeem, Program Organizer and mentor while talking to reporter.
The topics and content of the workshop included an introduction to the theatre, universal principles of acting, history of theatre and art of street theatre, the relationship between acting and dancing, acerbating and miming, acting and overacting, the economy of gesture and voice, tools of acting, different limbs of the body – their extremities and balance, body gustier movement and effect, balance and grace exercise, voice control, intonation and effect, breathing and use of throat, imagination, evolving of the script, three different schools of thoughts (realism, symbolism and absurd), other tools like light, sound, set and makeup and how to use them in street theatre, preparation of play project and presentation of the play.
The participants also learned types of voice, use of throat and breathing, melody voice, monologue, dialogue, general log, lecture, public address, recording of voice, teh tul lafaz, the imagination of an actor, different schools of thought, realism and symbolism, how a story is developed. Exercises for enhancing the potential of actors were also part of the sessions.
The acting course aims to utilize the energy of youth at a level of exploration with a proper platform for supporting their inner abilities. It is an attempt to explore the talent of amateur and budding artists for promoting and preserving the rich culture of the country as well as to refine the talent of participants, he said.
The training focused on the involvement of youth in extracurricular activities as well as showing their talent in the field of performing arts and promoting healthy entertainment through expressions of art.
The trend of quality and thoughtful theater plays an important role in highlighting and resolving the issues like education, training, and social problems. The history of theater is connected with the history of human society and it also leads toward revolutions in shaping society, he said.
Stage drama is a strong medium of education and occupies a unique place among performing arts with reflection and identification of social evils in an entertaining way. Besides giving quality entertainment, such events also promote healthy activities among youngsters and revive the concept of theater in the twin cities with the theme of promoting peace, love, and harmony. Such events play an important role in highlighting and resolving the issues of society and also bring correction to society through artistic expressions, he said.