Ashish Khandakar working on new play Dinguli Kemon Chhilo

The play will highlight the liberation War and its impact on the masses. Photo Courtesy: BSA

Those, who are regular at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA), will find a vacant space in front of the National Art Gallery. Construction waste is dumped here. Theatre director Ashish Khandakar, known for working on environmental theatre in the country, has decided to use the space for his upcoming play, “Dinguli Kemon Chhilo”.
Highlighting the Liberation War and its impact on the masses, the play is in its rehearsal phase at present. Khandakar and a group of actors from different troupes have been rehearsing everyday at the venue. The play will premiere in mid-April. BSA is producing it.
Environmental theatre places a production in an environment similar to the one in which the play is set. In recent times, this concept has been used in painting, films and documentaries etc.
However, this time Khandakar will only use the space to create an ambiance of the Liberation War. He will use a 5000 square feet area as the performing space. The National Art Gallery will be used as the backdrop, while audience will be seated at and around the Coffee House.
The story sees people in a border area and their lives during the war. The story zooms in on a group of outlaws and the effects of the war on them. Glimpses of real life events will be created, as Khandakar feels “mass participation was integral to achieve independence.”
Khandakar compiled the story after borrowing elements from different literary works based on the war. “Hasan Azizul Haque's 'Phera', some diaries and books on the war are the sources of the play,” says Khandakar.
As a part of environmental theatre, the director first conceives the storyline and then accumulates ideas on the space that how it will go with the storyline. “The story must go with the performance space, and the ambiance,” says Khandakar.