Binodini, The Tempest to be staged
Popular troupe Dhaka Theatre will leave for Kolkata tomorrow to participate in an international theatre festival in India.
It will stage acclaimed productions- Binodini and The Tempest- at the Rabindrabhaban in Chandangar, Kolkata as part of the
Moitree International Theatre Festival.
Binodini will be staged in the morning while The Tempest will be staged in the evening on June 9 at the festival organised by Moitree Theatre.
Before leaving for Kolkata, the troupe will stage The Tempest today at the National Theatre Hall.
Commissioned by Royal Shakespeare Company, Dhaka Theatre had initially produced The Tempest to participate at the World Shakespeare Festival held last year in London. The troupe also staged the play in several other festivals at home and abroad over the past few months, Dr Rubayet Ahmed, who has adapted the Shakespearean classic in Bangla, told New Age.
Keeping the original storyline of The Tempest intact, Rubayet Ahmed has recreated the play following the age old tradition of the indigenous narrative style.
Director of the play Nasiruddin Yousuff has enriched the directorial compositions fusing different types of traditional performing art forms including narratives in music-dance-narration-dialogue forms and manipuri nata pala.
The play is starring Shimul Yousuf as Ariel, Shahiduzzaman Selim as Alonso and Kamal Bayzid as Stefano; and introducing Rubol Noor Lodi as Prospero and Esha Yousuf as Miranda. Two Manipuri artistes — Nilmoni Sinha and Bidhan Sinha — are also part of the cast.
Monodrama Binodini, performed by Shimul Yousuf, on the other hand, is an autobiographical sketch of the legendary Binodini Dasi, a pioneering theatre actress who had a huge role in shaping the theatre scenario of Bengal in the 19th century.
Based on Binodini Dasi’s two autobiographies- Amar Kotha and Amar Obhinoy Jibon—Simon Zakaria has authored the play under the guidance of the late dramatist Selim Al Deen. The play is also directed by Nasiruddin Yousuff.
-With New Age input
