Ganga-Jamuna Theatre Fest
Konjush, Ishwar Esechhen staged on 5th day
The fifth day of the ongoing Ganga-Jamuna Theatre Festival featured plays by local theatre troupe Loko Natyadal (Banani) and Kolkata-based troupe Yugagni at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Friday.
Loko Natyadal staged its acclaimed comedy Konjush, an adaptation of The Miser by the famous French playwright Moliere, at National Theatre Hall, while Yugagni staged its quasi-comic play Ishwar Esechhen at Experimental Theatre Hall of the academy.
Konjush, a pure comedy is adapted by seasoned actor-director Tarik Anam Khan, and directed by Kamrun Noor Chowdhury. Konjush has a history of being staged more than 600 times by the troupe. No other play in Bangladesh has been staged as many times.
The recipe for the success of this laugh riot can perhaps be pinpointed to the comedy that is punched into the play through the local Dhakaiya dialect and the hilarious central character Haider Ali Khan. Konjush not only hits the audience with moments that can make one roll with laughter, but also exposes incongruities of different sorts in people’s characters and social structures.
Yugagni’s Iswar Esechhen was also an exposure of incongruous contemporary society with solid comic punches.
Written and directed respectively by Sandipan Majumder and Koushik Roy Choudhury, the play shows that even appearance of God cannot save people and society from the irrecoverable money-making dementia.
The play tries to touch on several social injustices within a short duration. As a result, it seemed to lack smoothness from one scene to another. However, the comical punches entertained the audience.
Both the shows had full-hall audience. Today, Dhaka Theatre will stage Dhaboman and Arindam Natya Sampraday will stage Kobi respectively at National and Experimental Theatre Halls.
-With New Age input
