After obtaining her master’s degree in English Literature, she enrolled in the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA), specializing in Theatre. In 2008, she graduated with a focus on Theatre Direction. Her journey included valuable experience as an assistant director, collaborating with renowned figures like “Zia Mohyeddin”.
As a director, she exhibits proficiency in all aspects of theatre production, actively contributing to both the Academy and commercial ventures. Her excellence in the field was acknowledged with the Pakistan Media Award in 2013 in the Best Theatre Category. Additionally, she holds certifications in lighting design and pre-visualization from SILV, USA, and is accompanied by a prestigious ‘Seal of Qualification’ from the same institute. Her commitment to continuous improvement led her to attend Master Classes in Theatre Direction in New York.
In addition to her accomplishments as a theatre director, she has significantly contributed to the field as a theatre teacher and an expert in theatre studies. As an educator, she imparts her extensive knowledge and practical experience to aspiring students, guiding them through the intricacies of theatrical artistry. Her role as a theatre teacher involves not only the transmission of technical skills but also the cultivation of a deep understanding of the theoretical and historical aspects of theatre.
Uzma’s notable contributions extend to pioneering theatre productions for children in Karachi. Her plays have gained widespread popularity among private and public schools, serving as a testament to her remarkable talent.
She has also tried luck as a playwright and a freelance writer for an English magazine.
Currently, she is actively engaged in the field, making significant strides in both teaching and management capabilities.
Fashion Collectin: First of all, tell me briefly, who is Uzma Sabeen? how do we introduce Uzma Sabeen to the World?
Uzma Sabeen: I am a theatre director and lighting designer, I am proficient in all aspects of production and the majority of the technical sides of the theater. I have worked with Sir Rahat Kazmi, Zia Mohyeddin, Anjum Ayazh, and Talat Hussain as a lighting designer since 2008, then I got involved in the direction and different aspects related to theater, been lucky to work with the best teachers, I am honored and blessed in this way that I had worked as a lighting designer with these big names. Then I started teaching after completing my course at NAPA. An acting course comprises direction and improvisation and they are my favorite subjects to teach, especially improvisation, where we always get new people to work with and do something new.
FC: Could you tell us about your journey into the world of theatre and how you became a Theatre & Lighting Director?
US: It’s an interesting question. I came by chance in the field of lighting design. What happened once was that we had a teacher Miss Sadia, an Odissi dancer, she needed a lighting operator, so I went with her and she introduced me to the lighting design field, I liked doing it and then I started pursuing it properly. I was given the very first chance by Sir Zia Mohyeddin in a theatre play conducted, performed, and directed by our teachers, Sir Zia Mohyeddin, Sir Rahat Kazmi, Sir Talat Hussain Sir Anjum Ayazh, and Sir Arshad Mehmood in which I worked as a light designer, I appreciate my teachers who allowed me to work and encouraged me throughout, giving me opportunities, Similarly, I had been working as a director side by side, with practice I got proficient in that too. I feel very lucky to work with such prestigious teachers. Usually, six plays are produced yearly so I used to work as a light designer in them, and with practice and hard work, I started getting proficient in that, I also professionally did a course from Las Vegas, the modern techniques and equipment helped me a lot to understand this field better, unfortunately, we still don’t have these facilities in our country. By now there are so many plays I have directed that I can’t even recall how many of them I directed. My favorite genres are “children’s plays and comedy”.
FC: Lighting plays a pivotal role in enhancing the atmosphere of a performance. How do you approach lighting design to support a production’s narrative?
US: Yes of course, when the curtain lifts in any play, lighting plays a pivotal role in every theater play. It enhances and impacts the play. A good professional production depends on it. The audience gets information about where the scene is happening, at what time of the day or night the scene is happening if it’s an indoor or outdoor scene, and what is the weather in the play, portrayed by the lighting designer. In every good play, the light designer also has to read the script again and again and then the light designer gets the clues. A good script writer mentions the light impact for every scene, so the light designer creates emotionally the mood of the scene the ambiance, and the actions happening in the scene, so according to that he gets the hold of the scenes and then he controls the lighting of the play. Direction and light design go hand in hand, giving one control and hold to create a whole different world according to the play. A play depends on lighting and direction, it contributes to making the play and the whole production depends on it, if the lighting effects are good, the more enjoyable and relatable the play becomes, and the success rate of the play becomes higher as it also depends on it a lot. I personally try that visually the play should look good and adorn it with different things, creating effects of a whole beautiful frame for every scene.
FC: What drew you towards the performing arts, and how did it shape your decision to work with institutions like NAPA and IVS?
US: As I was one of the very first batches of NAPA, we got a chance to learn a whole lot comparatively and as the course was not pre-decided, we came to know and got involved much more than others, and at that time everything was new and our teachers were learning to decide the curriculum, so they used to sit and decide with us that what will be taught in the next trimester after every three months. That also gave me exposure and I learned a lot from that too. At the end of 2nd year, we got courses in Direction. From there I started directing short plays, as I always had a flair for experimenting with new things, one way or the other and that was also a part of our class work. I got appreciation from teachers, and then I was encouraged to do my first play in “PACC”, at that time only teachers used to direct plays, students were not allowed, and all the teachers came to watch the play. They appreciated my work a lot and Sir Zia Mohyeddin encouraged me to direct plays further, especially the genre of comedy, as it is difficult to direct and act in comedy plays, as our teachers were engaged in conducting serious educational plays. So that is how I started directing. And then it carried on till today.
FC: How has your role as an anchor and artist influenced your work in theatre and lighting?
US: I did painting for a year, which is all about light-to-dark color contrast playing with shades while balancing the whole picture frame, so as a painter, it helped me a lot in the proscenium in the theatre, as in painting we work in a frame too, similarly proscenium in theatre I could easily relate from where and how to use lighting, dark to light effect, where it should be, more or less, medium, blurry effect etc. So it was an added advantage throughout for me which mostly people without painting skills can’t make out and don’t have and hence don’t have the advantage to use it. As an anchor, I made a YouTube channel during COVID-19 and anchored a few of my programs. As such I don’t do anchoring much, but as an artist, I did a lot of related things.
FC: What has been your most memorable project in theatre, and what made it stand out for you?
US: There are so many memorable plays in my memory as every play has its different memorable moments. To select one and closest to my heart, would be my first comedy play “Sau den Choar Kay” directed by me. It had two spells of ten days, back to back simultaneously, and it never happened before in NAPA at that time that a play had such a huge success and response, whenever it was played it got an outstanding response, and we enjoyed doing it a lot as well.
FC: Can you share how your involvement with NAPA and IVS began? What motivated you to take on these teaching roles?
US: As soon as we finished the course as we were one of the first batches of NAPA so few of us were hired as faculty teachers. The major reason was I was involved in compiling the three-year courses of NAPA with Sir Rahat Kazmi, so I was very much aware of the courses and how to teach them. We compiled the course systematically. So I was fully aware of it. In the beginning, the courses weren’t organized. Every three months courses were discussed among teachers and students as we were one of the 1st batches so we were involved in discussing and organizing the courses from the very first day along with the teachers, being one of the first batches I was involved in compiling as did study all that myself so I was fully aware how to teach it. I knew all the pros and cons too. Also, I was working as a course coordinator and was quite involved with students’ complaints. Then in IVS, my name was recommended as a teacher too, as NAPA is the only institute involved in performing art so IVS needed a teacher too, now I also teach in the Arts Council as they have an academy, but all my passion and major interest, opportunities, motivation inspiration all started from NAPA. I feel lucky to be such a major part of NAPA with such great teachers.
FC: As a faculty member at NAPA and an acting coach at IVS, how do you approach teaching and mentoring young artists?
US: Teaching at NAPA and IVS has very different approaches. Students come from all kinds of backgrounds at NAPA from lower class and lower middle class, and at IVS a different class comes for courses. Also, at NAPA a course of three years is being offered and at IVS different courses of a few months are being taught. A different kind of approach has to be adopted for teaching, keeping in mind the backgrounds and the exposure the students already possess. Much more time could be given to NAPA students, IVS students already have done theatre in their schools, and NAPA students have done theater too, but not to an outstanding level. Most students who join NAPA when they start studying courses come to know that it’s not only acting, it’s theory too and they have to study properly to excel further successfully. I also teach in the Arts Council where I have to adapt a way of teaching according to the students, male and female. I enjoy the most meeting different students, studying their reactions, lot of diversity.
FC: What do you find most rewarding about working with students in these prestigious institutions?
US: I have been teaching for seventeen to eighteen years, and for me rewarding is when these students with different backgrounds, and accents start changing slowly. If I can change them and make them reach from an A point to a B is very fulfilling and rewarding for me. When they first join they are so different but after grooming their instrument which is their body they change to improve, some take more time, and some take less time but when they pass out of the academy, even the personal pictures on their documents have entirely changed by that time, become well-groomed, that is my reward and gives me inner happiness, I would suggest to everyone that even if you don’t want to act, still join and do it for self-grooming and exploring your inner selves.
FC: How do you adapt your teaching methods to cater to the diverse skill sets and backgrounds of your students?
US: I have to cater to everyone differently, according to the areas where they belong as they come from all over Pakistan, for example, they come from Northern Areas, interior Sindh, Baluchistan, and KPK, etc. Multiple methods and approaches have to be taken according to their region, as a student coordinator I used to listen to their stories which helped me understand them, so when they were taught, I had to keep in mind their exposure, mostly situations they could relate and they act better, some were mentally disturbed and they came out of it by performing art. it helped them. It’s detailed work with a lot of hard work and passion as everyone’s personality is very different with different backgrounds.
FC: In your experience, how has theatre education in Pakistan evolved over the years?
US: I feel that big cities like Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad have some acceptance, and change is coming still needs a lot of acceptance all over the country on a larger scale. But the small cities still need acceptance. People used to think that the kind of theater we do is the same old, that was performed here for some time which was bold, vulgar, and uneducated, but now people are realizing it, I also teach at “Haque Academy”. we perform an annual play in Urdu or English, like “Ali aur dragon”(5th production), “Sultan, Aladin, Sindbad, Ali baba, and Chacha Chakkan”. I have been doing kids’ plays for eleven to twelve years. so many schools bring kids and children love it and get excited watching it, and enjoy it. Their reactions are priceless. Through watching it, kids come to know their personalities also become confident, and explore and groom themselves in a much better way. Practical is always more impactful than theory. Now big schools bring kids to watch plays in September yearly and they have added it to their curriculum. and they book in advance and wait for the annual plays. It’s on the grassroots level for now in big cities, other small cities still need to accept it and add theatre as a subject in their curriculum.
FC: What are some of the most significant challenges you’ve faced in theatre and lighting direction in Pakistan?
US: There are a lot of challenges, we need more theatres to be built in the country. There are presentation auditoriums, which can’t be called theatres. Only NAPA and Arts Council are international in Karachi. The government needs to build many more theatres also lighting and sound equipment are needed which is presently too little to work with. The government should subsidize, as in the world theatres work on subsidy. The regular salary of people working in theatre should be raised, if one is the family’s breadwinner, with the amount paid in theatres won’t be enough to run an individual house with the salary paid in theatres. So because of this reason, many people come into this field passionately but they don’t sustain for long because it’s not worth a payable job, like take my example I do multiple things like teaching, direction, and lighting. So that is how I am surviving in this field too, like abroad If it’s a director he will only direct or a writer will only write, the actor will only act and would be paid handsomely. Unfortunately in Pakistan, to ends meet, one has to work very hard and work in multiple fields of theatre or other fields to earn a healthy living. Also, theatre needs a lot of investment and the private sector should come forward as there aren’t sponsors, we need sponsors for theater to flourish. while the Games are sponsored, theatre isn’t given any importance of that level and is ignored. Now the “International festival” is also only held in the “Arts Council”. The granting is being done by a few people based on favoritism and by that, genuine artists can’t access it. Needs a lot of development and work to overcome the challenges.
FC: Are there any specific changes or improvements you’d like to see in the arts education sector, especially in institutions like NAPA and IVS? and how do you envision the future of theatre and performing arts in Pakistan?
US: Here I won’t say much about IVS as it isn’t for performing art. But the main problem is that the management has nothing to do with Art, they have no clue how to work for NAPA, especially now in NAPA, where there are pseudo-artists, unlike before when we had genuine artists like Sir Zia, Arshad Mehmood, and Rahat Kazmi, as their whole careers had been in front of us, they did such a remarkable work for performing art, now we have such people in management who doesn’t know art and their job at all. We need people who should be designated for their particular jobs. Who deserves the required designation. We need an Art manager at NAPA like Ahmad Shah Sahab at the Arts Council, he knows his job, who is deserving of work, how to manage the artist, what kind of job has to be taken from the artist, how much chance should be given to whom, and a proper chance to be given to the most deserving ones. We need seasoned people like him to work at NAPA. Dedicated people and management are needed who should work to bring out genuine talent, not the ones who aren’t deserving, and also the funds should be used at proper levels. The future could be good but has to start from the grass root like it should be performed in schools and colleges, so they have awareness, not all of them will become directors or actors but at least they will become appreciative of theatre and will become a supportive community of theater later on, which will have huge impact on the future of theater.
FC: Tell me about your family, how many siblings you have etc.
US: About my family I have one younger brother who is very supportive of my work. My father had been very supportive of my work, he was the one who showed me an advertisement, from there I developed an interest and I then did Shakespearean plays, including Christopher Marlowe’s plays which I studied in English literature. I am lucky that my family had acceptance of my work and now my extended family feels proud too and appreciate my work after my hard work for seventeen to eighteen years.
FC: What are your hobbies other than all the creative work you do, like Music, Movies, any particular Games you play or watch, etc.?
US: I think all my hobbies are now helping me in theatre, I have painted in all mediums so it helps me in theatre, in set designing my drawing and sketching experience helps me, in lighting the sense of light to dark helps me a lot in that too, the color scheme, the color wheel sense from painting helps me in selecting the colors of costumes with creativity, Music also helps me as sound and music sense help me too in theatre as music has a big part in theater and I can get music prepared on my own independently for my play, so all my hobbies are now merged into theatre and help me big time, so I can always do something different and creative with the help of my hobbies, nothing goes wasted and it pays off. Travelling is also my hobby, helps me relax and to know new people. I have an interest in Photography too, I have an exhibition as a photographer in September 2024, as I used to do photography for our brochures in NAPA.
FC: What is your favorite Food, Pakistani and Continental?
US: I like our Pakistani food, and Mediterranean food, Baku, Turkey, Italian food with good company and good friends are there then I enjoy the food more.
FC: Favorite Book which you recommend to anyone to read?
US: My favorite book is “one hundred years of Solitude” by “Gabriel Garcia Marquez”, it takes me to a different world, I recommend people this book to most people, in Urdu Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi, Abdullah Hussain, Qurrat ul Ain Hyder, they are so famous and I enjoy reading them, Sir Rahat Kazmi during Covid used to send me books, we used to read and then discuss it. Sir Rahat Kazmi has been my inspiration in reading as he has been a big proponent of reading books all along.
FC: Love Cinema or OTT platform? planning to direct a movie for the big screen?
US: I like Cinema, Art movies, and European movies attract me a lot. I would like to make a movie and direct it someday in sha Allah But I don’t like the medium of TV, I acted too and although it was my last major in NAPA, it seemed boring, theatre is my passion, my first love, the rehearsals, its collaborative, we get a live response soon, I enjoy all that a lot more than TV. Yes, I also would like to make a movie for the cinema, but I think it still has some time.
FC: Who are some of the individuals or mentors that have influenced you the most in your career?
US: My mentors were Sir Rahat Kazmi, Sir Arshad Mehmood, and Sir Zia Moheyddin, they taught me a lot, they not only helped me become a director but gave an insight into life itself, the guidelines, like they used to tell me to learn new things, do plays which used to be new and they are like a family, lucky to work with them, my parents left early but so lucky to have them like a family asking them directly if there would be any problem related to the theater or call them and get advice from them not even opening a book, they had been such a big help, guideline, lifeline to me, they inspired how to live a life, they weren’t easy on themselves and not on us, did every project as if you are doing it for the first time, I am truly blessed to have them in my life and they are my true mentors indeed.
FC: Can you share a piece of advice that has stuck with you throughout your career in the performing arts? What message would you like to give to the next generation of theatre artists, actors, and performers?
US: In my life I have learned to work hard, be honest, with a strong support system. No shortcuts should be used, hard work pays off in the long run, if work has been done with honesty. Always do everything as if you are doing it for the first time as if it’s your first production. Hard work, sturdiness, don’t see what reward you are getting, in the long run, you will get the reward. Do teamwork, don’t do leg pulling of others, as what goes around comes around, Don’t lead others down, no backbiting, tell the concerned person their flaws, no hypocrisy, give people chances, support each other, and don’t lead down, and work as a team to move forward successfully, take everyone along with collaboration, that’s the key to successful production and success for everything you aim for in life.
