Srinagar/March,22: The two day workshop on theatre as a tool in communication organized by the Kashmir Press Club concluded today in which around 40 participants, including the journalists and media persons, took part.
Renowned theatre playwright Junaid Rather, who is also a student of National School of Drama (NSD), made participants learn about the techniques for focus, calmness, observation and memory. The resource person also demonstrated how an artist can make use of five resonators for voice and speech, and techniques used for storytelling and creating still images using body parts.
On the first day of the two-day workshop on the theme Theatre As A Tool In Communication, organized by Kashmir Press Club (KPC), renowned theatre director and playwright Mohammad Amin Bhat shed light on various evolutionary stages of theatre in Jammu and Kashmir. Mr. Bhat, who is also President of literary organization Adbee Markaz Kamraz, in his opening address, said that theatre as an art form and storytelling device is very powerful. Junaid also practically demonstrated various techniques including the Nav Ras (nine emotions) involved in theatre performance on stage. He explained the various techniques and spoke about the beauty of this medium.
In the post-lunch session, Mr. Rather worked with a closed group of 18 participants, which was further divided into three separate groups, who performed impromptu on stage after conceiving a novel idea. Gowhar Geelani, senior journalist and executive member KPC, as coordinator formally threw open the workshop while laying emphasis on capacity building of aspiring journalists to write reviews besides developing skill set to critically appreciate and report theatre as a form of storytelling. “There is a good response to these workshops. We will try to hold more such workshops in days to come. The effort is to try and build capacity of our young friends in media and students”, Shuja-ul-Haq, President, KPC said.
Ishfaq Tantry, general secretary KPC, informed the participants about organizing two separate workshops on theatre. He also thanked resource persons and hoped that such endeavors would encourage more and more youngsters to develop interest in theatre. Those present on the occasion included Shuja ul Haq, President KPC; Farooq Javed, Treasurer KPC; senior journalists Riyaz Masroor, Bashaarat Masood and Irfan Hakeem, and several aspiring journalists and theatre enthusiasts. Apart from coordination, KPC member Mr. Danish Bin Nabi provided his technical support for the conduct of the workshop.
