Play on veil makes a key point, with a smile

Lahore: Ajoka Theatre's new play Burqavaganza, which treats the touchy issue of the veil with a generous dose of humour, opened on Monday at Alhamra Art Centre in Lahore.

The play, written and directed by Shahid Nadeem, highlighted the importance of consensus and understanding in averting extremism and ambiguities.

Nadeem said he had tried to tackle problems faced by the youth and middle-aged women of the Islamic world who were caught in the crossfire of perceptions about the veil.

The play depicted modern youth in veil going out on dates and generally sneaking out of educational institutions, offices and homes for discreet dalliances with friends of the opposite sex.

Burqavaganza aims to challenge set mindsets and to provoke audiences to think for themselves and break the chains of prejudice and outdated values.

News clips were screened in between to show misconceptions prevailing in different countries which had banned the veil in the aftermath of terrorist strikes.

Among other issues, the play sought to address the compulsive obsession to confine the female of the species to anonymity. It sought to reason that, whatever the rationale for covering women's faces in primitive or medieval times, there could be no justification in modem times for such a practise. No society could encourage indecency or immodesty, the play emphasised.