Latest news with #QasimKhan
Globe and Mail
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Globe and Mail
Luminato performances to usher in a new era for the Toronto festival
The Luminato Festival – known for programming immersive experiences, large-scale installations and edgy works of live performance across downtown Toronto – is back again this summer, with new leadership at its reins. This year's festival is the first to be programmed by artistic director Olivia Ansell, whose previous experience includes roles at the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Festival. Luminato, like many Toronto festivals, suffered from pandemic-era lockdowns and subsequent years of tepid attendance. Recent summers have been marred by scandals, financial troubles and underpowered programming – but Ansell's inaugural season, complemented by recent turnover in the festival's producing staff, looks to course-correct Luminato as the festival enters a new era. Here's what I'm looking forward to at Luminato 2025. Tim Crouch's play, about a devastating car accident and a stage hypnotist, has made headlines whenever it's been produced, most recently at the Young Vic in London last month. The play invites a special guest each night to join the production, an actor who has neither read the script nor seen the show before. The end result, according to British critics, is a truly live experience that cannot be recreated owing to the unpredictable nature of the play. And at Luminato, there's a starry roster of local actors set to take part – talents such as Qasim Khan, Daniel MacIvor, Karen Robinson and Jean Yoon. Were you enamoured by the fashion at this year's Met Gala? If so, you might want to check out Dandyism, a 25-minute dance show scheduled to play across the greater Toronto area (including stops in Brampton and at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre). Using a blend of dance styles, Patrick Ziza's Dandyism promises to celebrate Black culture and style in a way that's accessible to audiences across the city. Billed as a dance piece that will 'stop traffic and start conversations,' I'm interested to see how this piece will deliver on the festival's promise of unique theatrical experiences. Produced by Peruvian theatre company Teatro La Plaza, this 95-minute Hamlet is nothing like the recent productions of the tragedy at High Park and the Stratford Festival: This one features eight actors with Down syndrome. Audiences across Canada might recall The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes, Back to Back Theatre's touring show from Australia that featured three adults with intellectual disabilities as they grappled with mortality – and the rise of artificial intelligence. Hamlet, in its Canadian premiere, promises to keep that conversation going. A sprawling dance piece by Compagnie Hervé KOUBI, co-presented by Luminato, TO Live and Fall for Dance North, What the Day Owes to the Night blends dance styles and aesthetics in its exploration of Algerian heritage. Martial arts and street dance combine on a canvas of 12 dancers to showcase choreographer Hervé Koubi's hyphenated French-Algerian identity — I'm interested to see how this one comes together.
The Independent
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Imran Khan's sons call on Donald Trump to intervene and secure his release
Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan 's sons have urged US president Donald Trump and the international community to call for their father's r elease from a Pakistani prison. British citizens Suleman Khan, 28, and Qasim Khan, 26, broke their silence for the first time to make a public appeal after 'exhausting' legal and other routes. Mr Khan, the 72-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, has been lodged in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since 2023 after a court handed him a three-year sentence in a corruption case. He faces some 150 charges in total, all of which his party says are politically motivated. The Tehreek-e-Insaf chief served as Pakistan 's prime minister between 2018 and 2022 before being removed from office. In an interview broadcast live on X with citizen journalist Mario Nawfal, Qasim Khan said: "We want the international community to take action and who better than [Donald] Trump.' '...We would love to speak to Trump and try and figure out a way where he would be able to help out." he said, adding they were trying to "bring democracy to Pakistan". Both sons called Mr Khan their "hero" and added they had never "spoken before, but seeing what he's going through, we couldn't stay quiet". When asked about US official Richard Grenell 's call for their father's release, the brothers said they were grateful for all the "support he has shown". Suleman Khan said: 'In terms of a message to the Trump administration, we'd call for any government that supports free speech and proper democracy to join the call for our father's release, and especially the most powerful leader in the world.' The brothers accused the Pakistan government of punishing Mr Khan by keeping him in isolation and complete darkness following a pro- democracy protest that called for the former prime minister's release. Mr Khan has no "access to the outside world, no access to doctors, and has been in prolonged solitary confinement", his elder son said. "Court mandates we speak to him once every week, but we speak to him once in two or three months." Their mother, Jemima Goldsmith, last October accused the Shehbaz Sharif government of cutting his access to lawyers and family visitations and even severing electricity to his cell. "He is now completely isolated, in solitary confinement, literally in the dark, with no contact with the outside world,' the film producer, who was married to Khan from 1995 to 2004, said in a post on X. Qasim Khan reiterated his mother's concerns, adding Mr Khan was "there for 10 days in the pitch black". He said the family wanted "international pressure" on Pakistan because their father is "currently living in inhumane conditions". "They are not giving him [Imran Khan] basic human rights," Qasim Khan said. "It is basically for human rights of not only our father but also other political prisoners and the restoration of proper democracy in Pakistan." Mr Khan's political party, earlier in May, petitioned the court for his urgent release from jail, claiming he could potentially be targeted in drone strikes during Pakistan's military standoff with India. His party said a plea had been filed in the Islamabad High Court to seek his release on parole during a 'national emergency' as India and Pakistan's military exchanged volleys of drones and shells. Both nations walked away from the brink of war following a ceasefire announcement this weekend. Mr Khan's sons said they miss their father, but "what hurts more is seeing a nation lose the man who gave everything for it". 'He always told us 'if you stand for truth, you'll pay a price. We're seeing that now'." Former UK environment minister Zac Goldsmith, in a post on X, praised his nephews for speaking up now for their father. "So proud of my nephews. They have never courted publicity," he said. Mr Goldsmith added: "But they are speaking up now for their father Imran Khan – a hero for so many in Pakistan, an incorruptible leader who is being tortured by a desperate, corrupt and greedy establishment."
Times
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
Imran Khan's sons break silence to plead for his release from jail
The sons of the jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan have made a rare public appearance to plead for their father's release from prison. Suleman Khan, 28, and Qasim Khan, 26, made their appeal in an online interview, stating they had exhausted all other avenues. Until now both have largely remained out of the public eye. Their mother and Khan's first wife, the British journalist and screenwriter Jemima Goldsmith, 51, has emphasised that her sons have no involvement in Pakistani politics. 'We've gone through the legal routes. We've gone through every route that we thought would potentially get him out,' said Qasim. 'We never thought he would be in there for a fraction of how long he's been in there. And it's only getting
