Achievements of Dhaka Theatre as a trend-setter in Bangladeshi theatre, which got momentum after the country’s independence, was analysed at a seminar held in the conference room of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Saturday.
Profeesor Afsar Ahmad, pro vice-chancellor of Jahangirnagar University, presented the keynote paper at the programme organised by Dhaka Theatre marking its 40th founding anniversary. The seminar was presided over by professor emeritus Serajul Islam Chowdhury.
Theatre personalities like Nasiruddin Yusuff, Dr Enamul Haque, Mafidul Haque, Shimul Yusuf, Jhuna Chowdhury and others delivered speeches on professor Ahmed’s paper.
The paper gave a brief description of the urban theatre practice since the middle of the last century and activities of the major troupes such as Drama Circle, Nagorik Natyasampradaya, Aranyak Natya Dal, Dhaka Theatre, Theatre and others.
Professor Ahmed, who is also a teacher of the drama and dramatics department of Jahangirnagar University, gave such observation that all these pioneering troupes of the country had their respective ideologies and philosophies.
But, the uniqueness of Dhaka Theatre is that the troupe could establish a theatre form based on the age-old tradition of the country, reads the keynote paper.
Terming the late playwright Selim AL Deen and the director Nasir Uddin Yusuff duo the cornerstone of the success of Dhaka Theatre, professor Ahmed also analysed the changes in the production style of Dhaka Theatre that happened in 40 years.
Ahmed termed the plays the troupe produced in the 1970s initiatives to search the root and such initiatives got a concrete shape in the early 1980s in the staging of Kittonkhola.
Through the successful staging of plays such as Kittonkhola, Keramotmongol, Haat Hodai, Chaka, Bonopangshul and others, Dhaka Theatre has established the narrative form, Ahmed said.
The keynote paper also analysed the forms the troupe developed and the branches of the forms.
Ahmed also addressed the vacuum created at the death of trendsetter playwright Selim Al Deen.
The keynote paper further evaluated the activities of Gram Theatre, also initiated by basically the Dhaka Theatre activists, saying that Gram Theatre as a platform had a brilliant start to promote traditional artists and art forms. But, the organisation has lost or is losing its previous character and zeal, evaluated professor Afsar Ahmed.
-With New Age input
