Maltreatment of women in a male-dominated society is not new, nor the discourse arising from such an issue. Hundreds of years ago, the village bards of our territory addressed significant issues such as ill-treatment of women, as testified by the palas of the Mymensingh Gitika.
One such pala called Ayna Bibir Pala was staged by
Natyadhara at the Studio Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Thursday.
The story revolves around the titular character Ayna Bibi, who is forced to suffer injustice like a lot of other common women of the then society.
As an orphan, Ayna was brought up by her maternal uncle like a free, flying bird amid joy. But once she is married, her chastity is questioned by the society. Her husband, Uzzal, to her great dismay, sides with the society and leaves Ayna to find another wife.
Later on, he comes to realize the innocence of Ayna, and tries to regain her. But, this time, the spirited Ayna refuses. Through her refusal, she proves her strength; she questions the structure of the society that looks down on women.
Dramatised and directed by Robiul Alam, the play drew considerable attention from the audience. Alam was cautious not to lose the original flavor of the age-old genre-pala.
Robiul Alam told New Age, ‘A number of plays have been adapted from Mymensingh Gitika like Mahua, Malua but not Ayna Bibir Pala.’
‘I found the story of the pala interesting and relevant even for the contemporary audience, so I chose this piece’, he explained.
Atoar Hossain, a spectator, praised the production and remarked, ‘The production’s character has been somewhere in-between the forms of modern play and past pala.’
Arif Hasan, who enjoyed watching the play, said, ‘I liked the songs in the play, and the performance of the actors was impressive’.
-With New Age input
