By Rimsha Ali Shah

“Why theater?” is a question many people addressed to Naeema Butt, a mass communications major, former football player of the Pakistan National Women’s Football team, a social activist, President of World Merit, a global platform for talented and collaborative youth, and the current General Secretary of Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN) Lahore Chapter.  With such impressive accomplishments, people could not help but ask Naeema why had she “given up” her illustrious government job to pursue theater?

“Theater is meditative, rather, magical.  It’s not just a performance art for me, it defines who I am,”

Naeema explains with sparks in her eyes; her passion is obvious the more she speaks about her chosen art form.  Naeema, an alumna of the Global Undergraduate Semester Exchange Program (UGRAD), founded of Pehlaaj – Theater for Change, founded in Lahore in 2012, an entity that works to spearhead behavioral change through the power of performance.

As she reflects on how she came to realize her newfound passion, Naeema recalls how theater was initially just an “extra-curricular activity” she looked forward to after school. Eventually, her talent and passion for the art led her to serve as the Director of the Dramatics Society at the University of Punjab, during which time she also won numerous awards for acting and direction in theater competitions.

“Knowing that a room full of people are fixated on your performance [and] that through a 15 minute performance you can actually inspire people, change their mindsets, or motivate them, gave my performances and writings a sense of purpose.  Theater was to be my tool of propelling social change, of that, I was sure!”

But how did Naeema come to this realization?  She thinks back to 2010 when she was selected for the Global Undergraduate Exchange (UGRAD) Program and had the opportunity to interact with others who shared her interests.  At West Liberty University in West Virginia, Naeema could witness and exercise the power of theater.  “The process that an artist undergoes in putting together a play is nothing like a mathematical calculation.  You need to truly be one with your inner-self to give an emphatic performance,” she said.  The person she credits for helping her realize her potential was her theater instructor at West Liberty, Professor Michael Aulick.  From there on, she focused on polishing her talents for the professional arena, including script writing, direction, stage design and acting. It was just as much a journey in empathy and in connecting with the audience as it was a technical training.

During her exchange program, Naeema participated in the annual college play, an experience she credits for greatly enhancing her understanding of theater.  In addition, she also won the title of “Best Extraordinary International Student Award” by the International Club of West Liberty University.

“The theater I did in the U.S. was actually quite different from what I had done in Pakistan.  It focused more on utilizing the human body as the primary tool to convey the message, as opposed to the dialogue-laden theater I had been exposed to in Pakistan.  I [experienced] a form of theater that was so different, that I remember wondering, ‘what else was out there about theater that I still did not know?’”

Her quest to learn all-things theater did not end with her exchange program.  She completed her fellowship in Arts Management from the Goethe Institute in Pakistan, while simultaneously battling the cultural stigma associated with theater in Pakistan.  “I had actually decided to quit theater during my last semester at university.  I even worked at Information Technology University (ITU) as head of the extra-curricular activities, but the absence of theatre from my life could not really be fulfilled by a stable government job.  I caught my parents by surprise when I quit my job and started Pehlaaj; but what had to be done, had to be done!”

Ever since, Naeema has not looked back.  In 2015, she received the facilitator‘s theater training and certification from Mandala Center Port Townsend Washington State, USA.  Inspired by the work of her teacher and Mandala Center Founder, Marc Weinblatt, she set off to introduce the concept of “theater of oppressed” in Pakistan and did so the help of Swedish theater instructor, Hannah Gardell.  Under the banner of her social enterprise Pehlaaj, Naeema has conducted workshops on “theater of oppressed” for disabled persons, students in schools and colleges, Transgender persons, senior citizens, and orphans.  Themes of these workshops include: conflict transformation, women empowerment, education and human rights.

Naeema also recently represented Pakistan at the United Nations’ Nexus Global youth summit in New York from July 22 – 25, 2015 and was just selected as an “Accountapreneurs” by Accountability Lab, where “Pehlaaj” will be one of the incubates. During her time as an Accountapreneur, she will receive two years of hands-on training, mentoring, networking, management support and seed funding to promote transparency through theater. She hopes that through this milestone, she will be closer to achieving her dream of establishing a professional theater school in Pakistan. Naeema Butt’s story of pursuing and living your dream in spite of societal expectations is a testament of her never-ending courage and determination.