Dracula: A Toothless Tirade

Oh by the way MR Rabnooass Bashyr was the writer of the script and the only reason why he has written this artcile is due to the fact the he was fired this project!

RGDS......

although the play was unprofessional in terms of creative asthetics and implementation, i feel this write up is rather harsh and at times gets too personal to be objective.

the play was an adaptation of the early 90s dracula movie and ignored all the good things, and put in the bad. the movie was known for its visual excellence, and immersive soundtrack and at the sametime, had some of the worst acting known to man coupled with a boring script. instead they adapted a script (and at times word for word) that even gary oldman couldnt save, stuck in contemporary music to make the yuppies happy and a set that would have made a primary school teacher commit hari kiri.

a professional method and approach was clearly lacking but they get an A for effort. better luck next time guys.

thanx for the feedback people. just a few things...i`m not old and i`ve never seen any theatre abroad. phantom was good compared to this disgrace. things should be given credit for what they deserve and not more. i gave this `play` the credit i thought it deserved. i don`t think i`ve ever seen something so shocking or bad in my life. not that i`ve seen a tremendous amount of theatre, but my aesthetic sense (i think) does seem to be in place.
cheers.

I agree with the writer entirely. I appreciate the fact that one should applaud the enthusiasm of the performers and celebrate their effort- alongside we should celebrate the brazen-faced courage they all had to come onto stage and actually be able to perform that play and pretend to call it `theatre`.
A play like Oscar - acted and directed by people much younger than these `teenagers` - should be appluaded. For all those who missed it - you missed something good!

As for comparisans to Phantom of the Opera - for anyone who attended Dracula would understand the writers comments. From the background - to some costumes - to the moving statues - it was a reincarnation of Phantom! Moreover - it seems like the actor (Hammad - who also played the Phantom) seemed to confuse the play and acted his lines out as if he were the Phantom again!

The acting - although did not gel - still needs to be applauded. Tulin - who played Mina - Bilal who played Arthur and even Nimar - who played Johnathon were quite good within their scenes! Jala - yes - did steal the show with his three lines but God i wish he hadn`t sung Jennifer Lopez`s songs!

Speaking of songs!!!!!!!!!!! It was Dracula reincarnated in Punjab! Too many dances - too long dances - too much attempted drama!

Perhaps the originators of the play should not have been so ambitious for their first production - perhaps one could have been nicer about it then.

I quite liked the acoustics and tempo of Phantom of the Opera at the Islamabad Club a few months ago. So I don`t understand the writer`s angst in his/her references to it.

What and where is the NIC Building Islamabad, I can`t seem to find it in my map of the city.

I think, considering the kind of response any honest effort and criticism gets in Pakistan from the usual suspects, any effort that tries to cut loose in Pakistan needs to be applauded. Maybe the writer needs to temper his/her critique within some sort of a relative scale?

The review is unduly harsh. Cut some slack for these youngsters, just look at them. They`re young, enterprising, dynamic and risk taking. Islamabad is full of old and introverted critics writing so called `analytical` reviews. This is precisely the reason why nothing new ever happens here. Such people hate initiative (a.k.a dont have the gutts, brains and energy) and hate anyone else who takes any form of intitiative. Mr. Lashari is the first man to have recognized the potential of these youngsters and the market for such talent. Tell me, how good were you when you were their age? These fantastic people are signs of some kind of progression in our social and educational systems, lets encourage them more. If one `elitist` critic prefers attending theatre in London and New York, then go, dont come here. Let the thousands of others who enjoy this effort, and enjoy it in peace. We want more of this because our so called professionals are pseudo in the highest sense, proof being that they rarely organize anything and just sit back and criticize. Sure there were improvements that couldve been made, but so much for remembering that this is actually amateur theatre. Way to go, we are living upto the legacy that Islamabad truly deserves nothing!

It may be a toothless tirade; but finally some entertaining activities are beginning to captivate us. Not that I am defending Dracula; but Islamabad is a boring and dull city ... come what may we need to generate some activities and I guess DRACULA and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA are steps in the right direction cuz realistically Islamabad has no spots for entertainment apart from Jinnah Market .. Tell me others if u know any ??

this piece would probably be suited for one of the `review` pieces of chowk. anyhow, i gather you didn`t likeh the play. CDA`s artistic vision was always lacking.