What happens or may happen in urban, contemporary conjugal life, which is often full of conflicts, was the theme of the 19th production of theatre troupe Shobdo Natyacharcha Kendra.
In a family where the husband, by force or by guile, dominates the scene, many possible endings may come forth as a solution or as a deadlock. Such a piece of theatre with multiple possible endings was Tritio Ekjon [The Third One]. Shobdo Natyacharcha Kendra premiered the play on Friday at the Experimental Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.
Written and directed by Samir Dssgupta and Ananta Hira respectively, the play depicts a conflict-stuck family and the likely consequences.
An apparently happily married couple comes on stage as the plays opens. The husband is a professor and a careerist, whereas the wife looks after the house. The lonely wife feels neglected as she has abandoned her own career and dreams for her marriage.
The twist in the plot emerges when the husband realises that her wife is not honest and has an extramarital affair with someone else behind his back. The coming of the third one who is revealingly named Bibek (conscience) makes the story run with multiple possible endings.
One ending is like that of Shakespeare’s Othello where the husband kills his wife. In the second ending the wife, like Nora of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, leaves the house to find her own direction and dream.
The third ending was that the husband realises his guilt and allows the scope where his wife can grow and actualise her dreams.
Playwright Samir Dasgupta has demonstrated three different endings for the play.
Ananta Hira and Rawshan Jannat Rushni enacted the roles of the husband and the wife. While Hira seemed spontaneous and convincing, Rushni’s performance was average.
Light design and music presentation were suitably done for the production by Thandu Raihan and Ramij Raju respectively.
A full-house audience enjoyed the play at the hall. Among them was thespian Mamunur Rashid who opined, ‘Overall, the production is good, though it needs to be further polished.
‘Every new production is an achievement in the theatre arena of the country. It was a good production’, observed Liaquat Ali Lucky, director general of BSA.
-With New Age input
