Theatre troupe Nattyateertha has arranged an atypical five-day theatre festival where three guest troupes and the host troupe
will stage 50th shows of five plays.
On Thursday afternoon, amid much colour and enthusiasm, the festival was inaugurated by Ramendu Majumdar, president of worldwide International Teatre Institute, at the premise of National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. Thespian Mamunur Rashid was present present as the chief guest of the programme. Jhuna Chowdhury attended the the event as a special guest.
Inauguration ceremony of the festival was spiced with traditional song recitals by members of Baul Bazar.
‘Every evening there will be music programmes before the scheduled play and one noted theatre personality will inaugurate the programme every day,’ said Tapan Hafiz, president of Nattyateertha.
‘We will also confer Natyabondhu award on five theatre activists who have helped Nattyateertha in its nine-year journey’, he added.
The opening day’s play was Majhrater Manushera staged by Loko Natyadal (Shiddheswary). Adopted by Abdus Selim from Chinese Nobel laureate Gao Xingjian’s Nocturnal Wanderer and directed by Liaquat Ali Lucky, the play is a depiction and demonstration of a few individuals who wander at the dead of the night and who are engaged, intentionally or unintentionally, in evil-doings.
The adopted play begins with a scene of a train journey, where, all aboard on the train lie to the ticket checker about their tickets.
These are the people who wander at night. The story of the play revolves round a few characters; two goons, a prostitute, a street man and a passer-by.
The entanglement in the plot of the play begins when the casual passer-by, who mistakenly thought to take a walk at the time of night only to get a free road and to inhale some fresh air, comes into contact with the goons and prostitute.
The nocturnal atmosphere and activities engulf this seemingly good-at-heart passer-by and take him irrevocably into the misdeed of the nught.
‘It is a play that focuses on and brings out the inherent dark side of human minds’, said the director of the play.
Other plays in the festival are Theatre Art Unit’s Amina Sundori, Nattyateertha’s Deep and Komola Sundori, Somoy’s Shesh Sanglap.
-With New Age input
