Secretary general of Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation (BGTF) Jhuna Chowdhury tells New Age that most of the theatre troupes are inactive across the country. According to
Jhuna Chowdhury just over 100 out of over 300 members of the federation are active at present. ‘Just imagine about a hundred troupes are completely inactive and another 100 more troupes are partly active,’ Jhuna told New Age.
He demands for government patronisation to overcome the situation. ‘The recently held national theatre festival and several other district level theatre activities proved that people across the country have interest in theatre but they cannot continue due to fund crisis,’ he added.
Most of the government budget for culture is used for the salaries of the officials and other routine works, observed Jhuna. ‘The rest of the money is spent for different sectors of the cultural arena like theatre, music, dance and recitation’.
‘District level theatre, however, got momentum last year when we could take some plans with the government allocated taka100 crore block allocation, from which, BGTF received taka 61 crore,’ Jhuna said
BGTF could organise some fruitful projects including workshop for playwrights, directors and actors, Jhuna said. ‘But the government fund decreased for the fiscal year 2011-12. Even in the current budget situation remained the same’.
‘We don’t want extra money but we demand that the federation bodies like BGTF, Abritti Sammanay Parishad, Nritya Shilpy Sangstha, and others should get a share of the budget directly to chalk out their respective annual plans,’ Jhuna said.
Infrastructural development is also important. ‘There are only 20/25 auditoriums in 63 districts excluding Dhaka. Even those auditoriums are not suitable for theatre. Let alone district level, even in the capital, the number of theatre halls is not sufficient. As a result, a person living in Uttara does not want to come to Segunbagicha to watch theatre at Shilpakla Academy facing terrific traffic jam. If we could establish theatre halls in residential areas like in Dhanmandi, Mirpur, Gulshan and Uttara, we could have reached more people,’ Jhuna Chowdhury said.
Despite all odds, Jhuna claims that theatre activists in the country have some remarkable achievements. ‘Theatre activists, most of whom gives volunteer service, are doing well to take theatre ahead. They don’t get any remuneration, still they are dedicated,’ he said.
Jhuna also finds some positive changes from the private sectors. ‘Sponsorship from private organisations has always helped us a lot in our endeavours though such sponsorship has a limit,’ he said.
Jhuna Chowdhury, however, claims that Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation will continue its lobby with both the government and private sectors to give contemporary theatre a professional look.
‘The federation will soon have a meeting with Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh to convince them to keep provision for a studio theatre in every high-raise Buildings,’ he said.
-With New Age input
