In celebration of its 30th founding anniversary, theatre troupe Mohakal Natya Sampraday organised a 13-day theatre festival that began on September 18 and ended on Monday simultaneously at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and Chhayanaut Auditorium.
In total, the festival had performances by 36 theatre troupes from Bangladesh and India. Beside 30 local theatre troupes, six troupes from different states of India staged their productions at the festival.
The selection of the title Bishwanatoker Jutha Utsab (collective festival of world theatre) is logical in this sense that it featured international theatre vibe. The thirteen day festival saw staging of plays in Bangla by renowned playwrights of different eras and of different countries across the world.
Bangla adaptations of American playwrights like Arthur Miller’s ‘Pussy Cat and the Expert Plumber’ and Eugene O’Neil’s The Hairy Ape, French playwright Mollier’s Les Forberis de Escaping and The Miser, Irish playwright Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters, Egyptian playwright Tewfiq-al-Hakim’s The Sultan’s Dilemma, English playwright Shakespeare’s classic Macbeth, Greek philosopher Socrates’ classic King Oedipus, and another Greek playwright Aeschylus’ ‘Prometheus Bound’ were staged at the festival.
Another noticiable feature of the festival was that as many as 11 plays by Rabindranath Tagore, either in original form or in slight adaptations, were staged at the festival.
Besides, a number of plays by contemporary playwrights of both Bangladesh and India were staged at the festival.
The plays by playwrights of different times from the pre-Christ period till date across the globe were an astounding display in one festival.
The plays, therefore, varied in themes they addressed, in manner they addressed the themes and in ways of presentation.
From pure comedy to absolute tragedy, from plays on human follies to plays on social anomalies and disparities, all were brought together at the festival. In that sense, the festival was truly a collective display of world theatre, a display of the last three thousand years’ journey of world theatre.
‘We divided the festival in three sections: the first four days featured foreign plays, second four days featured Tagore plays and the last five days featured contemporary productions. That is why, I think, the festival deserves to be termed as a collective display of world theatre,’ said Mir Zahid Hasan, president of Mohakal Natya Sampraday, and chief coordinator of the festival.
‘Considering the collection of plays staged in the festival, it was really a vibrant display of world theatre scenario,’ said thespian Ataur Rahman.
-With New Age input
