Theatre School Praktani staged three consecutive shows of its recent production Pratham Partha on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The first two shows were staged at Natmandol of Dhaka University, while the last show was held at Studio Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.
Pratham Partha, written by eminent poet-playwright-writer Buddhadeva Bose, is based on the great ancient Indian epic Mahabharata. The play is also considered to be one of the best versions of the epic.
In the play, Bose concentrated only on one character, Karna, first son of Kunti. That is why, Karna is called Pratham Partha. But the situation becomes so entangled in an epic fashion that Karna, the great warrior, is bound to take up arms against one of his brothers, Arjuna, in the Kurukshetra war.
Karna is visited by his mother Kunti, his and his brothers’ wife Draupadi and Krishna on the eve of his and Arjuna’s fateful duel.
Joyita Mohalanbish has directed the play for Theatre School Praktani. Nur Jaman Raja enacted the character of Karna, while Shirin Bakul enacted Kunti, Tania Hossain enacted the character of Draupadi and Golam Shahriar Sikta enacted the role of Krishna.
All the actors looked well-versed and well-rehearsed and remarkably portrayed the respective characters. Popular singer-composer Partha Barua did marvelous as the music director. Partha’s selection of background music enhanced the emotions and overtones of the characters and situations.
Pratham Partha is the second production of Theatre School Praktani. The troupe brought Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot as its first production earlier.
All three shows were attended by packed audiences who acclaimed the production. Ashraf Hossain, a Dhaka University student, told New Age that it was nice to watch a play based on the mythological events of Mahabharat.
-With New Age input
