Helplessness of a father desperately searching his abducted son during the War of Independence touched the hearts of the audience while they witnessed the play Mukti Mukti at the Studio Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Wednesday.
Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Repertory staged the play as part of the ongoing theatre festival organised by Northern University based theatre troupe Northern Theatre.
Written by Zia Haider and directed by Ali Ahmed Mukul, the play depicts a poor postman, who at last reaches a concentration camp where his son had been imprisoned by the invading Pakistani army.
The father is the play’s central character who voices his helplessness, grief and anxiety over the safety of his only son who he has raised through hardship and many sacrifices. However, the play is not a monologue as it has a few dialogues by the son and the Pakistani army officers.
Video footages of war and torture were projected on a white screen with red stains on stage. The red blots depicting blood mingled with the visuals were spine-chilling for the spectators.
The play had a grasp on the attention of the audience who were moved by the climax when the father under a hypnosis by the Pakistani army, kills his own son at the concentration camp.
The performers did a fine job; however, the performance of Badol Shahid as the father was indeed praiseworthy.
‘The play has a powerful storyline that would strike a chord in anybody,’ said Mukul. He observed that directing the play has been a challenging task as he depicted the atrocities of the war through audiovisual presentation and dialogues.
The hall was packed with a large audience. ‘I never saw a war but this made me realize the brutality of a war’, said Kabir, a college student
Before the play commenced, Northern Theatre artiste Bijoy Roy presented Bhawaiya, traditional songs of the Rangpur division at the same venue. He presented a few numbers including Oki gariyal bhai, Rangpurya changra rey, Baokumta batash and others.
-With New Age input
