Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi, in collaboration with Rang Manj, staged the children’s theatre play Ali and the Dragon at Auditorium II, captivating an audience of young students from various schools.
Written by Uzma Sabeen, with music by renowned composer Arshad Mehmood, the play featured a vibrant cast including Haris Khan, Iram Basheer, Ahmer Hussain, Hammad Khan, Faraz Chhotani, Zubi Fatima, Hassan Alam, and Asif Shehzad.
The hour-long performance was met with enthusiastic applause. Uzma Sabeen, the play’s director, shared that the motivation behind creating Ali and the Dragon was to offer children engaging and imaginative stories. She emphasized the theatre group’s long-standing commitment to children’s theatre, having performed annually since 2013, with previous hits including Ali Baba aur Chalis Chor, Aladdin, Sindbad, and Sultan.
Reflecting on the group’s early struggles, Sabeen recalled performing in schools with limited resources, including the absence of electricity and basic facilities. She expressed gratitude to Muhammad Ahmed Shah, President of the Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi, for his invaluable support in reviving theatre and consistently backing their initiatives. The play’s plot centers on a kingdom where a destructive dragon wreaks havoc on crops, leaving the people on the verge of starvation.
The benevolent king offers a grand reward to anyone who can slay the beast. Ali, a courageous young man, teams up with the royal chef, Shaheen, to embark on a heroic quest to defeat the dragon and restore peace to the kingdom. The young audience was fully engaged throughout the performance, frequently clapping and showing their appreciation for the cast’s energetic portrayal of the story.
