The organisers had found themselves in a similar bind in 1998, after then prime minister Nawaz Sharif announced the controversial 'Shariat Bill' (Constitutional Amendment 15) which would have given him unlimited powers to decide what was right or wrong according to Islam. At that time, at stake was the Fourth International Puppet Festival. But then, as now, Peer power prevailed.
A few groups did cancel their trip at the last moment; an Indian dance troupe was denied visas; and a Pakistani-American artiste who had to pull out because her sponsor, the US consulate, in line with America's policy, struck a blow for democracy by denying required funds. But in the end, all went reasonably well, and the 11-day festival enthralled Lahoris by celebrating 100 years of innovation in theatre and dance-drama.
Besides 20 troupes from Pakistan, there were another 20 international theatre and dance troupes that took the stage at the Alhamra Cultural Complex. The foreign companies came from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Britain, Spain, Iran, Austria, South Africa, Finland, Egypt and Germany.
One of the most acclaimed shows was a remarkably improvisational dance piece, Urbanthropus/ Fata Mondana, by the Swiss group Da Motus. Unique in its presentation, precise in its choreography, and feline in its movement, Urbanthropus featured two 'futuristic creatures' moving noiselessly along the promenade of the Cultural Complex, dressed in skin-tight costumes that stretched over their faces, while an appreciative audience followed them, along with technicians with heavy-duty lights (see picture). The 'creatures' explained that Urbanthropus is an entity both archaic and futuristic, a digital humanoid with primitive behaviour. This being, living between past and future, and belonging to neither sex, yet possessing a certain erotic power, has something of a deep mystique, as if appearing in a dream.