ITI Theatre Festival at Shilpakala Academy
Dance drama, pala staged
On the second day of eight-day ITI theatre festival titled ‘Theatre in Asia: Asia in Theatre’ three productions were staged at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Monday. Shadhana staged dance drama Mayar Khela at the National Theatre Hall, Chittagong based troupe Ganayan staged Muktadhara at the Experimental Theatre Hall and a traditional troupe from Thakurgaon staged ‘dhamer gaan’ at the Studio Theatre Hall.
A houseful audience was moved by Shadhana’s experimental production based on Tagore’s dance drama, jointly choreographed and directed by Amit Chowdhury and Sabbir Ahmed Khan Biju.
The story-line of Mayar Khela revolves around a young man Amar, played by Nirjher Chowdhury, who is in love with a girl named Shanta, enacted by Anima Roy. But with the interference of illusions symbolically portrayed by a group of characters named Maya Kumar/Maya Kumari, Amar feels monotonous about the relationship and eventually gets fascinated to the stunning Pramoda, performed by Tanzia Toma.
Whenever the illusionary characters arrived on stage, the light and sound changed in such a way that a magical ambience prevailed while on the contrary flat lighting and regular sounds were used when the five real characters-Amar, Pramoda, Shanta, Ashok and Kumar appeared on stage. The cast in the play remain unchanged except Nasirul Islam Raj who enacted brilliantly in the character of Ashok.
After the show ITI director general Tobias Biancone said, ‘Their brilliant actions and dance movements captivated me and helped me to overcome language barriers. The artistic infusion of aerial dance with acrobatic, classical and jazz dance was praiseworthy.’
Matigara Dhamer Dal from Thakurgaon staged Dhamer Gaan: Housher Behani Rangila Behai’ following the typical pala tradition of the north Bengal.
Depicting the character of Champa Rani- mother of a physically challenged boy and wife of a sick and differently able man- the narrative features how a helpless woman is misused by the dominating classes in the society in a very simple manner with synchronized musical instruments of dhol, cornet and kartal.
The performance is directed by Gabinda Kumar Barman.
One of the audiences, Shoma Akhter said, ‘the spontaneous singing and performance of the lead character was awesome while it got momentum with the very exceptional performance by the supporting actors.’
-With New Age input
