Playwright Sayeed Ahmad remembered

Sayeed Ahmad

Sayeed Ahmad Foundation for Culture and Arts (SAFCA) organised a multimedia seminar in remembrance of eminent playwright and art critic, late Sayeed Ahmad, at seminar room of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on May 28.

At the seminar, academics discussed Sayeed Ahmad's play “Milepost”, written in the absurd genre.

Renowned scholar and academician Professor Syed Jamil Ahmed from Theatre and Performance Studies Department of Dhaka University was the keynote speaker, with Dhaka University English Department Professor Fakhrul Alam in the chair.

Through his paper, Professor Syed Jamil Ahmed analysed the play “Milepost” and explained the unique multi-layered drama as it unfolds. Later, DU Theater and Performance Studies Department Assistant Professor Shahman Moishan and Jagannath University's Assistant Professor of Theatre Department Kamaluddin Kabir held discussions on the keynote paper.

Sayeed Ahmad wrote “The Milepost” during 1962 to 1964. The play was later translated into Bangla by theatre personality Ataur Rahman in 1965. In 1965, Satrong Soukhin Theatre premiered “Milepost” at the then Bangla Academy auditorium.

The story of “Milepost” presents a human situation of how people behave in a crisis or calamity. The “Milepost” becomes a tool in the hands of travelers who are fleeing the famine as they mislead each other in the face of ruination and devastation. “Milepost” is relevant to the current socio-political scenario of Bangladesh.

Sayeed Ahmad was a pioneer of the theatre of the absurd to the country's theatre scene. His absurd plays like “The Thing”, “Milepost” and “Survival” earned him international recognition. Ahmad is well-known to the BTV audience for his “Bishwa Natok” where he introduced and directed plays of international fame.

He is also well-known for plays like “Kalbela” (1962), “Trishnae” (1968), “Ek Din Protidin” (1974) and “Shesh Nawab” (1988), which have been translated into English, French, German and Italian.

The eminent art critic received the Bangla Academy Award in 1974. He passed away on January 21, 2010. He was awarded with the Ekushey Padak posthumously on February 21, 2010.