LAHORE - A play titled ‘Sur’ written by Dr Fouzia Tabbasum and directed by Agha Shahid was staged at Alhamra Arts Council on Tuesday.
The play was all about the story of music chorus and song verses in a very interesting tale. The play presented several music rags before the audience and highlighted the importance of each music chorus. Number of classical dance performances was presented along with musical performances.
The story of play revolve around the fictional character of Rag Marva which was depicted in play as male protagonist who fall in love with Sohni, a female character in the play but does not met her as both had different distinct in life and could not meet in any case.
The play aimed to make accessible the fascinating and rich culture of Pakistani classical music and give step by step instructions for improvising the style and typical structure of rags.
A large number of people attended the play and appreciated the idea to promote classical music in an interactive style.
The cast of the play included Ali Shan, Zain Ali , Zubar Buhtta , Shahid Javed, Merale Zadi, Kanwal and Zumar Khan.
Writer Fouzia of the play said that we have tried to illustrate a few simple pentatonic rag’s in an effort to show how you could get different melodies from different sets of four notes.
She said the main objective to showcase this play was to educate the youth about the importance of rags.
“It is a truly unique classical music theatre play fascinating melodic beauty and rhythmic intricacy freely combining elaborate composed melodies with carefully rehearsed improvisation,” she said.
LAC Executive Director Atta Muhammad Khan said that the play was originally based on the importance of Sur and connected theater to classical music in a beautiful relationship.
Bringing classical music on the stage is a unique opportunity for youth to visually experience our rich culture,” he said.