A National Puppet Theatre (NPT) team of the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) has returned to the federal capital after two weeks of visit to various cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
There team showed puppet performances to children of various schools. The team held shows for 12 days in various parts of the KP province to create awareness about spread the dengue fever, natural calamities like floods and tremors, health, environment, social and economic issues, said NTP Director Zulfiqar Ahmed while talking to Pakistan Today. He said the shows conveyed the message of patriotism and love for the country.
“Over the years, the NPT team had developed entertaining stories with didactic themes. One of its most popular dramatic programs is the ‘Story of Pakistan’ which has been presented before many heads of states and other dignitaries and has been highly commended,” he added.
Talking about his recent visit to KP, the NPT in charge said the 12-day visit to KP included cities like Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan and Sawabi.
“The school children of terrorism-hit areas took special interest in colourful puppet shows. Most of the children were enthusiastic and they expressed their overwhelmingly appreciation of the puppet shows,” Zulfiqar observed.
He said that through colourful puppets, the children could learn a great deal about social issues in an entertaining way and popular folk tales, skits and national songs were a great medium to educate them while putting to use their imagination.
He said that till-date the NPT has given more than 20,000 performances not only in the major cities of Pakistan but also in small towns and villages. The programme has been extended even to the remotest areas of the country.
Besides providing entertainment, the programs under this recent visit aimed at educating adult people as well.
“Adults and children gain knowledge from these interesting musical shows through puppets and get inspiration from the moral and historical stories acted out by puppets, said the NPT director.
