Noted playwright-music connoisseur Sayeed Ahmad was recalled with a two-day eventful programme marking his fifth death anniversary at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Saturday and Sunday. Sayeed Ahmad, who died on January 21 in 2010, was a pioneer playwright of the absurd style in the country. His absurd plays like The Thing, Milepost and Survival earned him international recognition. Sayeed Ahmad Foundation for Culture and Arts and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy jointly organised the two-day observation programme including discussion, staging of Sayeed Ahmed’s plays and a discussion session.
At the opening day programme centered on flute, a traditional instrument that Sayeed Ahmad himself played and loved to listen to at the National Theatre Hall on Saturday evening.
Noted flautist Gazi Abdul Hakim was conferred with Sayeed Ahmad Sammanana. Cultural affairs secretary Ranjit Kumar Biswas and eminent artist Mostafa Monowar handed over the crest and award-money to Hakim.
It was Gazi Abdul Hakim who then began the show with raga Deepak, a summer time raga on flute, and artistes of Nrityanchal presented a dance rendition to the music.
The performance titled Tunes of Six Seasons had different portions where the flautist played appropriate ragas and Nrityanchal artistes synchronised accordingly.
Hakim played raga megh for monsoon, raga malkauns for autumn, raga jhinjhit for fall, raga bhairav for winter and raga hindol for spring. Nrityanchal dancers, clad in different attires for different seasons, created a glittering scene on the stage.
As the day’s programme revolved around traditional flute, a description of the history of flute was also read out by Dr Sayeem Rana, who directed the programme.
Poems and songs about the flute were presented at the show. Recitation artiste Dalia Ahmed recited poems like poet Chandidas’ Ke Na Banshi Baye and Tagore’s Ogo Banshiwala, while noted singer Anima Mukti Gomes rendered the lines of the poems in tunes. Noted Lalon singer Farida Parveen presented a Lalon song at the programme.
Gazi Abdul Hakim also presented raga chandrakauns and raga kafi which kept the audience rapt.
Another presentation by artistes of different ethnic minority groups on their respective diverse style flutes entertained the audience.
-With New Age input
