Srinagar, July 10: A theatre school on Sunday said it was working for the revival of “dead theatre” in Kashmir adding that the stage plays “channelize voice of dissent in a prudent and positive manner.”
 “The medium of theatre is a positive to every kind of expression even if it is against the ruler. It gives a positive direction to the dissent”, said Bhawani Bashir Yasir, an eminent theatreist and the founder of Ensemble Kashmir Theatre Akademi (EKTA).
 Talking at a function organised by the EKTA, Bhawani said the theatre was a movement of people and works for the upliftment of civil society.
 “It awakens people and continuously watches the work of the administration through different techniques of performing art,” he said.
 On the occasion of its upgradation, EKTA had invited eminent art and theatre personalities. Prominent among those were noted media personality Pran Kishore, writer MY Teng and poet Farooq Nazki.
 “To us theatre has proved as a platform that is thousand times better than other media to relieve our tensions and understand the problems around us,”  said Pran Kishore.
 He opined that there was urgent need to build the infrastructure to bring back the past glory to the theatre art in Kashmir.
 “We should work in unison without bringing ego in the theatre”, he said.
 Other panelists brought the historical perspective of theatre as a tool to bring present happenings and deliberated upon its formation in the modern times.
 “The personalities like Dina Nath Nadim had given a direction to this art and started playing opera in Kashmir but political happenings turned away,” said Farooq Nazki.
 The Secretary Cultural Academy Zaffar Manhas was also present in the function. He expressed his “helplessness in providing the better avenues to the theatre groups in Kashmir.”
  “We are helpless to provide professional training in theatre-arts to upcoming and young talented artistes of Kashmir, who are deprived of such avenues. We lack auditoriums and art galleries and cultural academy lacks funds,” he said.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 10 Jul 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 10 Jul 2011 18:30:00 GMT
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