World Theater Day message stresses fighting apathy

By Musa Alcan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Pakistani playwright Shahid Nadeem wrote this year’s message for 2020 World Theater Day, which will be marked on March 27.

Nadeem’s message -- titled Theatre as a Shrine, was released on International Theatre Institute’s (ITI) website.

“In today’s world where bigotry, hate, and violence is on the rise, our planet is plunging deeper and deeper into a climatic catastrophe, we need to replenish our spiritual strength,” the Pakistani playwright said.

“We need to fight apathy, lethargy, pessimism, greed, and disregard for the world we live in, the planet we live on,” he added.

“Theatre has a role, a noble role, in energizing and mobilizing humanity to lift itself from its descent into the abyss,” Nadeem said.

“It can uplift the stage, the performance space, into something sacred,” he added.

Normally read out on March 27 before beginning a play at theaters across the world, this year the message was only shared online as theaters are closed amid measure to curb the spread of the coronavirus across the world.

Meanwhile, Turkish actor Lemi Bilgin wrote: “We will meet again as [theatergoers have done] for thousands of years,” in a message for his country.

World Theater Day has been celebrated across the world since 1962.