It is not any portrayal of the beauty of the spring. Basanta Jagaran staged on Monday at Dhaka University, rather addresses a burning issue of the contemporary urban life: children are missing the beauty of adolescent life being the victim of extreme pressure created on them.
The extent of the pressure is shown through one of the characters of the play, who commits suicide as he failed to pass the examination.
Other characters of the satire, mostly schoolchildren, also face the bitter realities.
The third year students of theatre and performance studies department of Dhaka University staged Basanta Jagaran as part of the weeklong programme of staging the latest production of the department at the Nat Mandal of Dhaka University.
Shahman Moishan has translated and directed the play from Spring Awakening by Tom Osbourne, which is an English translation of the German original play Fruhllings by Frank Wedekind.
As the curtain unveiled, the young and energetic actors created a series of hilarious scenes regarding the characters’ self-discovery that greatly amused the viewers.
Young girl Wendla’s immature dialogues with her friends Thea and Martha about the process of being a mother also made the viewers look down their memory lanes.
Thea’s blush on seeing Melchior, her childhood crush, also reminded the audience about the sweet infatuation common among teenage boys and girls.
In fact, the play portrays a series of harmonious scenes depicting children’s curiosities at the physical changes during adolescent age such as Melchior’s curious comments about sex, young girls’ attraction towards boys and their bashfulness about coming in contact with them.
But, the fun does not last long as the play is a protest against faulty structure, which prevents youngsters to live their lives in their ways.
The actors made the audience feel distressed through their convincing portrayal of Moritz’s suicide, the rustication of a meritorious student Melchior and Wendla’s abortion.
The technical side of the play was also praiseworthy, especially the smooth but quick transformations of sequences.
The director has effectively used a few English songs including Micheal Jackson’s Beat it.
‘The play has a universal appeal as it deals with a common problem of the teenagers, which is overlooked. So, I enjoyed working on the theme’, Moishan told New Age.
Shahnaz Chowdhury, a student of the geography department of the University, said that she enjoyed the play for the artistic depiction of the dark sides of the society. ‘It deals with issues that are not generally discussed in theatre or in other performing arts in the country,’ she said.
‘I enjoyed acting of the young talented artistes,’ said Jhonney, a student of Dhaka University.
The last show of the play will be staged today.
-With New Age input
