It all started with Sheema Kermani and ended with Humera Channa. In between, there was Nighat Chaudhry, Nazia Zuberi-Hasan, Seerat Jafri, and more. The stage belonged to women for 16 days at the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA). Main stage, basement, outdoors: The Academy celebrated the women performing artistes in a befitting manner.

Moreover, it was not just song and dance. Some very serious (and some quite funny) plays were also staged. It all started on Thursday, 25 April 2024, with a decent opening ceremony where the festival’s objectives and program were announced. And then came Sheema Kermani’s play, Herstories. She took five women from our society—Atiya Faizee, Sarah Shagufta, Madam Azurie, Parween Qasim, and Neelima Ganshyam—and narrated their stories in a manner that usually is not in practice. It was very bold and frank; it was Sheema Kermani.

There were other strong plays in the festival, too. NAPA alumnus Aisha Hasan took three stories from Ismat Chughtai and presented them on stage. The audience loved them. Nighat Sultana’s Raeesa Ka Ramzan was about morality and society. Raeesa is a street prostitute, but she cannot accept this fact. The way she is treated by society is also a contributory factor in her self-denial. The story was inspired by a character from Dostoyevsky’s works.

Shahid Mahmood Nadeem’s celebrated play Bari received a standing ovation from the audience. Samina Seher’s performance, in particular, as a woman on death row, was very moving.

Rafi Pir’s Ankhyan was also staged by Azad Theater, a team that had specially flown in from Lahore. The play was in chaste Punjabi, and the performers knew how to handle such a script.

Zarqa Naz presented a gut-sucking comedy from Noel Coward, rechristened Wapsi. The play was well prepared and well received by a full house.
There were also two plays for children, The Bobbles and Sargam. The first one was in English, and the other was a free adaptation of the Hollywood movie The Sound of Music.

There were three dance performances, though one of them, by Sabiha Zia and her team, was not introduced as dance. It was a rhythmic movement show. However, dance by any other name would follow the same beat.

Sumera Ali and her team presented some kathak and folk dances. Her poise and finesse were much appreciated.

On the last day, Nighat Chaudhry, one of Pakistan’s finest exponents of kathak dancing, performed the festival’s last dance performance. She presented a piece she had recently developed called Purdah. Then, she went on to dance Teen Taal. Her performance ended on a thumri. Her Teen Taal was exceptionally beautiful, with pirouettes and footwork so smooth that only an expert like her could achieve that.

The music scene was simply great. It started when, on the third night, Pireh Moosa took to the stage with her debut solo album preview. A musician and songwriter with classical training in piano and Western vocals from a young age, Pireh’s album Shades of Blue spoke volumes of her capabilities.

Ankhyan was not the only show to come from Lahore. Popular singer Sawera Ali, from the walled city, sang right into the hearts of Karachiites with her rendition of Nur Jehan songs. She also sang some Punjabi folk songs, and that made the audience sing with her.

TV playback singer Alycia Dias presented songs in English and Urdu. She enthralled the audience with her singing style. The musical journey then reached Bazm-e-Sangeet, a nostalgic evening with Nazia Zuberi-Hasan. Her performance included works from Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Allama Iqbal, Fehmida Riaz, and Bahadur Shah Zafar. Some songs she sang were hits by Mehdi Hasan, Habib Wali Muhammad, and Iqbal Bano. The Zia Mohyeddin Theater, where most of the festival events were being held, overflowed for her performance, with the fans sitting even on the stairs.

The very next day, Seerat Jafri and her Karachi Jazz Band paid tribute to women jazz singers and pop icon Nazia Hasan. Again, the audience overflowed the theater.

A special performance was held on Wednesday, 8 May, when American all-women country-pop band Raining Jane performed at the festival. The quartet from Los Angeles played from their works, and the audience fell in love with them.

The grand finale was a surprise inclusion because it was not mentioned in the festival brochure. Noted singer Humera Channa sang some of her all-time hits as well as some others from the golden era of the Pakistan film industry. She sang Nur Jehan, and the audience loved her.

Five documentaries, six street plays, and poetry recitals were shown on the sidelines of the main festival. NAPA students presented four street plays, matching the quality and standards of the professionals who presented the other two.

The festival truly ended on a high note. It started with a full house for Herstories and ended with the crowd flooding the ZM Theater for Nighat Chaudhry and Humera Channa. On the day they staged Sargam, children from SOS School, Malir, The Publican School, Zaman Town, and Korangi came to watch it. They were especially invited to the occasion by NAPA Board member and former Senator Javed Jabbar. In both plays for children, they were not required to buy tickets. Throughout the festival, there were days when, even on weekdays, there was a houseful show. There were some great performances in those 16 days. However, as the NAPA CEO Junaid Zuberi said, this is only the beginning, and he plans to make it a regular show every year.

As the chief guest for the closing ceremony, Mahtab Akbar Rashdi said, “We, the women, are the world.” The festival truly made one believe that.