Stories of Rana Plaza victims in theatre
The Rana Plaza catastrophe has invoked different artistic and literary responses from cultural and theatre activists and artistes over the last year. Creative minds of the country have come up with poems, songs, theatre productions and paintings to express their reactions following the tragic incident
that shook the whole nation.
One memorable creative response to the catastrophe is noted theatre troupe Aranyak Natydal’s recent production Swapnapathik.
An open show of the play was staged on Thursday at National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, marking one year of Rana Plaza collapse tragedy.
Written and directed respectively by Haroon Rashid and Mamunur Rashid, the play artistically depicted the impact of tragic catastrophes that took place at different apparel factories like Rana Plaza, Tazreen and others over the past years.
The play, however, does not focus on any tragic industrial incident that took lives of the poor workers. Rather, it is a tale of their dreams of living a better life and also the stories of how those dreams come to a tragic end, shared playwright Haroon Rashid.
The play reveals that there has been no foreseeable change in the sector in terms of ensuring the workers their dues, that is, safety and benefits.
For the director, it was a great challenge to compose the scenes not just as a strong message oriented ‘rough theatre’ but as an aesthetically rich one so that it could stir emotions in the audience.
‘My attempt was to create an artistic documentation of the cruel facts of workers’ lives. It was a tough production as it is a reflection on some recent bitter experiences,’ said Mamunur Rashid, director of the play.
Both set and light designers, Faiz Zahir and Thandu Rahman respectively, created a suggestive set to present the fact that the lives of the poor workers are confined, like their dreams.
A number of 40 actors of Aranyak played the roles of different apparel workers. The combined efforts of the actors could get the message clearly across the full house audience.
Earlier, theatre activists lighted candles to pay respect to the Rana Plaza victims. A discussion was also held where Shirin Akhter, member of parliament, AAMS Arefin Siddiqui, vice-chancellor of Dhaka University, thespian Mamunur Rashid and AKM Mamunur Rashid, climatologist, spoke on ‘Urban Disaster: Preparation and Awareness’.
-With New Age input
