Fellow playwrights observe
Young playwrights in the country evaluated the trendsetter playwright Selim Al Deen as a leading bard in the contemporary theatre arena in Bangladesh in a discussion session organised by Swapnodal on Sunday at the seminar room of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.
The programme titled Natyacharya Selim Al Deen: Nabin Natyakarer Dristite was held at the first session of the second day programme organised by Swapodal marking the 64th anniversary of birth of the iconic playwright.
The troupe also staged Al Deen’s play Hargoj, directed by Zahid Ripon, at the Experimental Theatre Hall of the academy as the concluding event of the two-day programme.
A similar two-day programme organised by Selim Al Deen Foundation and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy also ended on Sunday evening at the National Theatre Hall of the academy through staging
of Al Deen’s play Dhaboman, directed by Shimul Yousuf.
A number of young playwrights like Shahman Moishan, Golam Shafiq, Anan Zaman, Salam Saqlain, Apurbo Kumar Kundu, Zaharabi Repon and others took part in the discussion on Selim Al Deen, which was presided over by thespian Ataur Rahman.
Al Deen’s lifelong friend Nasiruddin Yusuff delivered the concluding speech expressing his satisfaction at the evaluation of Al Deen’s plays made by the young theatre practitioners.
‘Selim Al Deen has become a part of the culture, especially in the theatre arena of the country. He is a living playwright as his plays are regularly staged, read and discussed’, observed young playwright Shahman Moishan.
Focusing on the uniqueness of Al Deen as a playwright, Moishan said, ‘Though his lifelong journey, the root searching playwright Selim Al Deen developed his own unique style. He had no predecessor.
Calling Deen a leading bard of the contemporary theatre, Moishan concluded his speech saying, ‘Al Deen eventually developed a form of theatre replete with allegory, where myth dominates not religion, where time and space are elastic’.
Another young playwright Golam Shafiq said that Al Deen’s plays are a marvelous mixture of play and poetry. Referring to Al Deen’s acclaimed play Nimajjan, he said, ‘The play poetically depicts a collage of brutal wars that have devastated humanity’.
He also opined that Al Deen’s plays, unlike others’, focused mostly on marganalised people and communities, who are the majority people of this developing country.
-With New Age input
