History made in Burnley as curtain rises on Pakistan’s Waris Shah's version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Burnley’s former Mayor and now Lord Wajid Khan was among the audience for Heer Ranjha, an adapted stage play version of Pakistan’s Waris Shah's famous love story, equivalent to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

It was a sell out in Liverpool, Manchester and Bury and the family friendly production, the second one to be produced by the South Asian Music Arts Council, played to a packed Burnley Youth Theatre. The leader of Burnley Council Coun. Afrasiab Anwar and other local dignitaries were also in the audience.

Told in Punjabi the drama is based around the original love story retold through the eyes of writer and director Saif Rehman.

Zerqa Ahmad, who is Director of Media at SAMA Arts Counci and one of the actors in the show, said: “This is something that is very rarely done in todays’ entertainment world.”