The 8th Youth Performing Arts Festival of the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop (RPTW) kicked off on Thursday, 3rd December to 7th December at the Peeru’s Café, Lahore. This was the first time that the youth festival wass being organized at Peeru’s Café instead of the Alhamra Cultural Complex due to the non-availability of sponsors.

Every year institutes and bands from across Pakistan participate in the festival. However, this year the majority of the participants are from Lahore. This year there was no formal opening ceremony for the festival and no bigwigs to inaugurate the festival. Lahore Grammar School staged an adaptation of a Pakistan Television Network’s 1959 play Taleem-e-Balighan based on the prevalent illiteracy in Pakistan. All the students gave a befitting performance.

Umair Arif’s dance performance was the second act of the day. Umair is one of the finest Kathak dancers in the country. He has learnt Kathak and yoga from Nahid Siddiqui and continued his training under Maharaj Ghulam Hussain Kathak and others. He has won two awards at the International Youth Performing Arts Festival 2007 and 2008 and also won the award at the Sindh Youth Festival for best performer and choreographer.

Folk puppeteers also performed on the opening day of the festival. Shazia, a puppeteer said that the group had come from Multan and had been performing for the last 25 years.

It was a chance for the youth of all ages to see talent from across the world. More than that, it was a chance to see different cultures, different forms of theater and different people altogether.

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