An apt rendering of an Indian epic

The Daily Star:How would you justify presenting your selection of thisUrubhanghamin the overseas theatre festival in future?

Kamaluddin Nilu: It was not our task to select the play for staging in the Asia meets Asia theatre festivals in Japan and Taiwan that will be held. The festival organisers asked CAT to send videos of our present productions; we sent videos and CDs and they finally wanted Urubhangham to be staged considering its content that is non-western, and produced with use of new style and technique of theatre performance. The play speaks of humanity and upholds an anti-war stance of human beings with scenes of bloodsheds, destructiveness of war and the brutality of warfare. The use of the blending of Sanskrit as well as indigenous methods and techniques in presentation of the play represent the style of the article performances in the sub-continent. Urubhangham will be staged twice in Tokyo and twice in Taipei in the Asia meets Asia theatre festivals.

TDS: Please sum up your Urubhangham production.

KN: My experience as the director of this play is good, I would say I am satisfied; and hope that the play met expectations of the audience as well. Urubhangham is produced with Sanskrit as well as indigenous theatrical methods and techniques, where angik, bachik, satmik and ahariya have been successfully used that unquestioningly enhanced quality of the production. Language is not any barrier to understand the play; but successful use of symbols and metaphors has added a new dimension lending the production a universal point of view for understanding.

TDS: Were there any problems that you faced while arranging, rehearsing, training and finally presenting this play at the Goethe-Institut venue?

KN: CAT is a professional theatre and the performers, technicians as well as backstage workers involved with CAT play-productions work on full-time basis. All activities in CAT are therefore carried out in a systematic way and arrangement of trainings, workshops, rehearsals or production preparation. Consequently presentation on stage go on smoothly and this we think a prerequisite for a good and successful play-production. Again CAT with its commitment for quality productions and for good theatre is being regarded these days as a model repertory theatre in the world theatre arena; and number of famous theatre directors and professionals are coming forward to work under auspices of CAT. For example, in near future we will be working with theatre directors and professionals from Germany for a series of workshops on different aspects of theatre. Also CAT is going to begin a triangle-collaboration programme between CAT from Bangladesh, CITO from Burkina Faso and Oslo National Theatre from Norway under which I myself and Issaka Sawadogo of CITO and Jo Stromgren of Oslo National Theatre will work for joint play-productions with some preceding theatre workshops.

TDS: How different are your experiences as a director of Urubhangham from others that you have organised in the recent past?

KN: CAT, in the year 2001, produced Bhasa's Urubhangham, inspired by the description of the last war in the great Indian epic Mahabharata. Premiere of the play, held in the Sunne International Theatre festival, Varmland, Sweden, on 11 August 2001. The performance in the festival was announced as World Premiere. However, the production you see now is revised from its initial design which has been made mainly in the line with the space given by the festival organisers in Japan and Taiwan. The performance space in Japan and Taiwan is smaller compared to the space the production would initially need for its staging. and, I found that the Goethe-Institut Dhaka auditorium could serve as a model auditorium having almost the same space-measurement as for the performances in the Japan and Taiwan festivals. Furthermore, CAT, in the mean time, organised some programmes in collaboration with Goethe-Institut Dhaka, and for the staging of Urubhangham before starting for Japan and Taiwan -- their cooperation is obviously worth praising.

TDS: What does the Urubhangham cast comprise of ? Please give some relevant details for the reader to be acquainted with them.

KN: The major characters in the play belong to the Hindu caste Kshatria corresponding to the career of warriors and rulers which the CAT performers have acted successfully, I think. The different characters have been acted by Delwar Hossain, Abul Kalam Azad, Sardar Aftabuddin, Shahadat Hossain, Anwar Hossain Chowdhury, Sabina Sultana, Afzal Hossain, Monir Ahmed and Sathi Sarker.

TDS: How do you assess the local demand for the theatre: how does it compare with other art productions on the video screen and TV?

KN: TV play and stage theatre production -- these are absolutely of two different media. I would say that plays, TV or stage plays whatever it may be, should be relevant to society and its time. Whenever I think of producing any play, first and foremost I think about its value and relevance to the contemporary society and the country -- as well as world situation. Otherwise a production intended may not be successful in terms of societal expectations that as a member of the society we all are committed to.

TDS: Would you say a few words about what brought you into the theatre world, your association CAT, and you experiences overseas?

KN: I think for artistic or theatrical work what is important is to have commitment. In CAT we strictly adhere to our commitments for all kind of theatrical works and try to reach our goal. This is how we maintain quality of our productions. And, for this commitment to theatrical works CAT is becoming a reliable and promising name in the world theatre arena for quality productions, which are produced through experiments. Thus CAT's works are being considered extremely important in the world theatre. This is the reason that most of the international theatre festival organisers are interested in inviting CAT in their festivals. We have so far participated in Nandikar Theatre Festival in Kolkata; South-Asian Theatre Festival in Kollyani; and Bharatrang Mahotsav-National School of Drama Theatre Festival in Delhi; Gotenborg Dance and Theatre Festival in Gotenborg, Sweden, and from Kalevala to Rap Theatre Festival in Sunne, Sweden. And, this time we are going to perform in Japan and Taiwan with our production of Bhasa's Urubhangham.