Dara is the first Pakistani play to have been adapted and staged by the National Theatre. In 2015, Dara was seen by more than 30,000 people over 36 performances in London. It was recently brought back for a one-time free screening and panel discussion on February 20th at the Nelson Mandela Auditorium Sheffield Students’ Union. Dara is a portrayal of the seventeenth-century Moghul royal Shah Jahan’s family and addresses historic debates around religious freedom and practice. It stimulated much public discussion on issues of culture, history, sufism and religious tolerance. In response to the hugely positive press and audience reception, the National Theatre made a film of the full live performance, for cultural, educational and arts festival screenings. After the screening, there was a Q&A session where SIIBS Honorary Professor Adam Dinham, Dr Anna Piela and Dara co-producer Anwar Akhtar answered questions and discussed the implications of this play for contemporary society.

For more information please refer to: http://www.thesamosa.co.uk/2017/03/12/why-dara-still-speaks-to-us-today-18/