Shunyan Theatre will stage monodrama Lal Jomin at the Experimental Theater hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy today. Today’s performance of the play, written and directed by Mannan Hira and Sudip Chakrabarty, respectively, will be the 38th presentation by the troupe.
The play depicts a touching account of a young girl’s struggle, in the milieu of the war of independence of Bangladesh. Momena Choudhury, the sole performer of the play, shared about Lal Jomin in an interview with New Age.
‘The first staging of the play took place last year on May 19 and we have already performed it 37 times in many districts on Bangladesh, in India and in London. Most interestingly, thirty of the shows we did were by invitation,’ informed Momena.
About the popularity, Momena further informed, ‘The play upholds a very touchy subject matter of the liberation war. I believe the theme of the play appeals to audiences to watch.’
Momena also said that wherever they staged the play, they gained huge response from the audience. ‘I remember a remarkable incident when we staged the play in Sirajgonj. We all cried when a rickshaw puller gifted us his day’s earnings of 75 taka after being fascinated by the play. Moreover, when we staged the play after being invited by Chickenshed Theatre in London, we received huge acclaim, even from the British visitors who couldn’t understand the language, but could perceive the performance,’ claimed Momena.
Momena is really thankful to all the members of Shunyan Theatre for their contributions to make the production popular.
Momena Choudhury began her career in 1987 as an artiste of Bagura youth choir. Later she joined Aranyak Natya Dal in 1990. She has performed in numerous productions including ‘Abong Bidyasagar’ and ‘Moyur Singhasan’. Momena prefers to work in street theatres like ‘Aguner Dalpala’ and ‘Kheikh Siyal’ out of a sense of social responsibility.
-With New Age input
