Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop

Created out of a rich cultural legacy, the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop can trace its roots to the pre-partition era. Founded by Rafi Peer, the man credited for single-handedly shaping the modern theatre scenario in the subcontinent, and earned a reputation for nurturing artistic expression, a tradition that has been kept alive till today by the Peerzada family.   In 1974, his children revived the theatre company, renaming it the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop to honor the memory of their father. With time, the company, operating as a non-profit organization, came to include not just theatre but a host of other art forms in its repertoire and became Pakistan's largest arts organization. Film, music, dance, drama and puppetry have been showcased in the twenty-four international festivals held under the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop banner, providing audiences the chance to appreciate local as well as international talent. Since 1992, its festivals have hosted up to 8,000 foreign artists from over seventy-six countries.

For over three decades, the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop has remained committed to the cause of the arts in Pakistan. Despite obstacles, from operating under a stifling socio-political environment as in the eighties to organizing large-scale festivals in the face of national catastrophes such as the devastating earthquake in 2005, the organization has never faltered in its vision to bridge the cultural gap between the nations of the world.