Continuing its long-standing tradition, Lacas A-Level held its annual school play this past week.This year’s performance, titled “Ainak Walay Jinn”, saw students showcasing their acting skills on the big stage after over a month of continuous hard work.

The actors truly were worked to the tea for this play and while interviewing various students who took part in it, (and after sifting through the long rants I received about how the director was making them do push ups daily), I found out that what went into the making of this play was just as beautiful as the play itself. In the end, it culminated in the actors leaving this event not only with the performances to show for it but the experience, the friendships and the memories built along with it.

When asked about the reasons for joining the play, most of the actors expressed their desires for using the play as a learning experience to pursue acting in the future, while some chads taking part in the play apparently just want to get into the student council. One of the actors quite confidently said, “I’m sure they’ll make me the Head Boy after seeing my performance.”

One of the more unique aspects of this play was that besides just the acting and everyday “borderline traumatizing” exercises, it incorporated musical segments and choreographed dances which proved a challenge for many of the actors and also a cause for some very awkward encounters as one of the main leads recalled how (not sure if I should be mentioning this) she had to couple dance with someone she didn’t like while another couldn’t stop talking about how she was made to do somersaults during the rehearsals.

“Do gymnastics count?” one of the actors replied when asked about the most bizarre thing they had to do during the play. They recalled some exhausting and for some, PTSD inducing memories of doing planks and pushups while begging the director for rest which was rarely granted (If the director’s reading this, we love your work please don’t lodge a complaint).

While the rehearsals did get much more exhausting by the last week with many scenes yet to be practiced out and everyone scrambling to perfect their performances, the actors emphasised on how “We never really realised how tired we were until after they ended.” Finally, however, their unpaid intensive labour finally paid off as the play turned out to be a huge success.

Despite having its fair share of awkwardness, with actors remarking on how even the director fell off his chair laughing after the “Tou phir Boota, mujhe ek akhri baar apne gale laga lo” line, the actor for Hamoon recalling the “Oye Nastoor. Wazzzaaaap” dialogue he had with Zakoota, and how they forgot to pick up one of the actors during their Burki rehearsals, they all still talked fondly about how all these experiences and the many inside jokes created a special bond between them.

To conclude, a lot goes into the making of large-scale school events like this annual play. Consistent efforts from both the students and the administration contributed to the success that we witnessed this Friday and we honestly could not be more proud of our fellow students who participated in it, worked backstage, or did whatever they could to make it as exceptional as possible — all while “bonding over our shared hatred for push-ups”.

Hassan Khan

TLC Writer