Ajoka Theatre Heads to India for THEATRE FOR PEACE, July 23

In July, Ajoka theatre will head to India for an exclusive theatre festival as part of its Theatre for Peace programme. The festival titled "Humsaya Theatre Festival" will include five landmark Ajoka plays including: "Lo Phir Basant Ayee", "Kaun Hai Yeh Gustakh", "Dara", "Anhi Mai Da Sufna" and "Kabira Khara Bazaar Mein". This festival is being held from 23rd to 27th July in Tagore Hall, Chandigarh. First Humsaya festival was held by Ajoka in September 2015 in New Delhi.

Ajoka has been committed to the ideals of peace and tolerance, within Pakistan and in the region. Ajoka has collaborated with theatre activists from other countries of South Asia particularly from India & Bangladesh, even in times when any contact across the border was considered treason. The first play performed by Ajoka, "JALOOS" was written by the veteran India revolutionary playwright Badal Sircar. Ajoka has worked with the (late) Safdar Hashmi, Anuradha Kapoor, Ratti Bartholomew, Kamla Bhasin and Kewal Dhaliwal. Ajoka first performed in India in 1989 when "ITT was staged in Delhi. The plays which have performed in India since include "K.ALA MEDA BHES" (in Delhi, Kolkatta and Chandigarh in 1997), "AIK THEE NANI (in Delhi in 1999 & 2003 and Bombay in 2004), "DUKHINI (in Delhi, Chandigarh and Kolkatta in 2000) and "BORDER-BORDER" (in Chandigarh and Amritsar , in 2001 and 2005 respectively). In Nov. 2003, "BULLHA" was first performed in several cities of Indian Punjab including Amritsar, Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Chandigarh and Jammu.

Ajoka has organized Panjpaani Indo-Pak theatre festivals to promote the cause of peace. These festivals were held in 2004-2009. Ajoka has launched a Theatre for Peace programme in collaboration with various Pakistani and Indian theatre groups. Ajoka is the only Pakistani group which has performed in India from Srinagar to Kerala and from Amritsar to Kolkata.

To do socially-meaningful theatre and thus contribute to the struggle for a secular, humane, just and egalitarian society in Pakistan.To promote theatre in Pakistan by blending traditional theatre forms with modern techniques and to provide entertainment which has a social relevance.

Ajoka, which pioneered the theatre movement in Pakistan, was set up in 1983 by a group of young people led by Madeeha Gauhar, a TV actress and theatre director. Ajoka's first play, Badal Sarkar's "Jaloos", was performed in Lahore in 1984, in a house lawn in defiance of the strict censorship laws. Since then Ajoka has been continuously performing socially-meaningful plays within Pakistan and abroad. It has now over two dozen original plays and several adaptations in it's repertoire. Ajoka Theatre is a non-profit making non-commercial voluntary democratic organization. It's members come from varied class and social backgrounds.
Ajoka is financially independent. It has also worked on theatre projects with like-minded national and international NGOs, for which expenses are shared.

Ajoka attaches great importance to developing contacts with theatre groups in other countries, particularly in Asia. It has long-standing relations with theatre groups in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri-Lanka, the Philippines and has worked on joint productions with several groups of these countries and the International Drama and Education Association (IDEA). Within Pakistan Ajoka has worked with NGOs such as the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the Family Planning Association of Pakistan, the WWF, the Goethe Institute, the Heinrich-Boll Foundation, the War Against Rape and the Alhamra Arts Council. It has a special relationship with the women's movement and a large number o