CURTAIN CALL: ODE TO A BYGONE ERA.

Kolachi is a musical theatre production, named after the club it revolves around and directed by Saad Sheikh. Running for four days to full houses, the thoroughly entertaining show is a homage to the modern, vivacious cultural hub that Pakistan once was and has since been lost to intolerance, extremism and censorship. The kathak at the beginning points at what's still left of the region's culture in terms of dance and music.

The illuminated 'Kolachi' at the back of the set says the imaginary club was established in 1951 and, in the context of the story, is where cabaret performers - clad in blingy, sparkly dresses, wearing headbands and sporting hairdos that were all the rage back then - swing and shake to jazzy songs. The emcee is a drag artist who also adds some humour to the bilingual (Urdu and English), but primarily English, production.

Photo by Amna Zuberi

In the world of these performers, there's love and romance, jealousy and competition, passion and emotion, lots of laughter and some talk of diversity, acceptability and adapting.

The thoroughly entertaining musical show Kolachi is a homage to the vivacious cultural hub that Pakistan once was and which has since been lost to intolerance, extremism and censorship

It all seems to be going great, until the fateful day of July 5, 1977 when Z.A. Bhutto is deposed as the prime minister of the country and Gen Ziaul Haq imposes martial law. Consequently, there's a string of restrictions, and clubs, song and dance are banned. It's important to point out that, while this may be the premise of this fantasy show, in actual fact, Karachi's nightclubs and bars disappeared overnight when a prohibition order was enacted in April 1977 by Mr Bhutto himself, as an attempt to placate religious conservatives who had risen up in opposition to him. In any case, irrespective of this major divergence from real history, in the context of the show, these events lead to a struggle to save Kolachi from shutting down, for which the owner even ends up sacrificing his life. His family and the club's artists then take on the mantle.

While the dictatorial regime deems dancers mirasis [low-caste minstrels] and clubs kanjarkhanas [brothels], the performers insist they're as much a part of the system as the authorities are, and say they will cover up but when they want and not when they're asked to. In one sequence, Azra, a sari-clad brothel madam from Lahore, intervenes and saves a detained performer through her...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT