Artistes from Iran and Croatia (above) perform at International Theatre Festival at Saheed Bhavan in Cuttack. Pictures by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Oct. 17: Theatre could be a wonderful medium to remind one of the common cultural backdrops of India and Pakistan, felt dramatists from the neighbouring country after staging a play at the International Theatre Festival that concluded on Tuesday at Saheed Bhavan in the city.

The audience appreciated the Punjabi play, Akhiyan Waliyon, by artistes of Mass Foundation Group from Lahore. The play depicted the struggle of the common man who still looks upto the government for progress, and at the same time, it created awareness among people who hardly take an initiative to lead a movement.

Director Ameer Nawaz said theatre in Pakistan had undergone a sea change. Besides, the commercial and parallel theatre co-exists together.

However, with changing times, theatre is now being extensively used by corporate houses for brand promotion and by NGOs for creating awareness. This certainly had helped the theatre artistes survive, as there was only logistic support provided by the government for the promotion of theatre, Nawaz added.

He said many Bollywood films were being screened in Pakistan and Indian film music was also immensely popular there

Besides the artistes from Pakistan, various theatre groups from Italy, Iran, Croatia, Spain and Poland had taken part in the 20th edition of the festival organised by Utkal Yuva Sanskrutik Sangha. Earlier, a dance ballet, Simurgh, staged during the festival by the artistes from Iran was much appreciated by the audience. The dance drama was an adaptation from the story by Attar Neishabouri that depicted the struggle to attain absolute purification after fighting evils. The dance ballet was directed by Pirooz Mirzaee and choreographed by Hayedeh Kishipour. Another play Potejeh is Seeking for Truth by Merlin Theatre group from Croatia was the centre of attraction during the festival.

“We have been successful in providing platform to various international theatre groups and artistes to showcase their talent. Similarly, the India Theatre Olympiad also saw a participation of various states within the country,” said secretary of the sangha Kartik Rath.