The Daily Star-BGTF Theatre Festival

(Clockwise from top-left): Scenes from “Dalim Kumar”, “Shikhandi Kotha” and “Jonmoshutro”.Photo: Mumit M.

On the second day of the ongoing "Bijoyer Natya Utshab 2011" at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, three plays-- "Dalim Kumar" by Natya Kendra, "Jonmoshutro" by Theatre (Arambagh) and "Shikhandi Kotha" by Mahakal -- were staged respectively at the National Theatre Hall, Experimental Theatre Hall and Studio Theatre Hall. The Daily Star in association with Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation has arranged the festival.
Natya Kendra's latest play "Dalim Kumar" has been written by young playwright Shubhashish Sinha. The play has been directed by Yusuf Hassan Arko.
Set against a contemporary backdrop, "Dalim Kumar" zooms in on the life of a farmer's son, who is trying to discover his identity. Hot issues like globalisation and urbanisation are highlighted in some sequences. Sinha also introduces the familiar fabled character, Dalim Kumar, as the narrator.
The cast of the play included Jhuna Chowdhury, Iqbal Babu, Yusuf Hasan Arko, Niaz Mohammad Tariq, Sangeeta Chowdhury, Habib Masud, Lucy Tripti Gomez and Sraboni Ferdous. Pintu Dev was the set designer. Tariq Anam Khan did the lighting design. Yusuf Hasan Arko, director of the play, also did the music direction.
Theatre's (Arambagh) "Jonmoshutro", also its latest production, has been written and directed by Gazi Rakayet. The play premiered on September 24 last year.
"Jonmoshutro" features the missing identities of two individuals.
Divided into two parts, the story proceeds with depictions of two different eras. The first incident is set against the backdrop of undivided Bengal, while the second occurs in recent times.
Jahangir Bhuiyan, Khaled Anand, Oliur Rahman, Eusha Antara and Tahmina Aktar play the lead roles. Thandu Raihan's light design deserves special mention. Apart from direction, Rakayet also did the stage design.
Mahakal's "Shikhandi Kotha" is one of its most successful plays to date. The play saw its 100th staging last year. Written by Anon Zaman and directed by Rashid Harun, the play sheds light on the inter-sex community.
The production narrates the story of an inter-sex individual, who is born into a family as Ratan. After identifying Ratan's gender, the family refuses to accept him. Ratan joins others like him and takes the name Ratna. The story shows Ratna and other inter-sex individual's woes as well as rare blissful moments.
Anon Zaman, Mir Zahid Hasan, Shuddho Hasan and Rajonno Taslim play the central characters. Tanvir Hasan and Shafiqul Islam designed the set, while Rafiqul Haque Himel did the light designing.