Theatre in Pakistan has a long and proud history. Starting from Agha Hassan's first Urdu play "Inder Sahba" to the now present stage. In the present age theatre and drama on stage is witnessed less while the commercial drama on television is on a boost.
With most of the stage plays being performed by various educational institutions. These institutions are trying to revive and further enhance the art of stage play in Pakistan and to present them to audiences in a professional manner while also providing the basis for young aspiring actors to have their time in the limelight.
In Karachi there is much rivalry among various teams of youthful actors. These teams compete in various dramatic and theatrical events throughout the year for different prizes.
Drama and theatre performances depict the mental state of a society and provide simple platforms to individuals possessing talents. Every possible chance of enhancing and increasing drama and theatre should be availed and such chances have been taken by the Natak Brigade; IBA Dramatics Society. Natak Brigade started back when a few people, who were young actors, young directors, young choreographers, joined hands together in order to promote the culture of thematic arts in IBA Karachi. The main aim of the Natak Brigade is to make people feel emotions depicted in theatre and drama.
Theatron is a national dramatics competition which was started in the year 2014 by the Natak Brigade, giving a whole new concept to the drama competitions held previously. Theatron aims to attract individuals with their respective teams, giving them a platform to compete on a national level. This competition is hosted by IBA, where teams from various institutions belonging to areas from all over Pakistan are brought together.
This 3-day theater renaissance began on 27th February at the Amphitheater, IBA Main Campus, which aimed to drive the renaissance of student led theatre in Pakistan. Each selected team was allowed to perform a play and also participate in indoor and outdoor activities which took place on the event days. Teams from different institutions like TIP, NED, LUMS, SZABIST, IQRA NCA, PNEC and BNU came to perform and "DRAMACULOUS" (Iqra university) won the price money of 100,000 and the "Theatron Champions" award for best acting, direction and writing.
Ms. Shagufta Ejaz , , Ms. Pheby Haroon and ms Kafi ghaznavi were the judges for Theatron 2015, and Hamza ali abbasi was the chief guest for 2nd day of Theatron.
Theatron '15 is the second national dramatics competition that was hosted by the Natak Brigade, at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Main Campus, and Karachi and sponsored by PEL and Tufail Chemical.
Theatron 2015 distributed eight different awards for the participants, namely, Theatron Champions, Best Play, Best Script, Best Director, Best Actor (Male), Best Actor (Female), Best Supporting Actor, leading to an overall prize money worth Rs 100,000/-. The teams were allowed to have 15 to maximum 25 members, and can perform plays based on any genre, having duration of 20 to 25 minutes.
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