Agony of women
A three-day monodrama festival featuring as many plays was held at the Natmandal auditorium of Dhaka University, from March 24-26.Theatre-based journal, “Manchakatha” arranged the festival that featured “Kokilara”, “Ami Birangana Bolchhi” and “Lal Jamin”.
All the three plays predominantly depict the woes and agony of women. “Kokilara” is a tale of a poor village girl. On the other hand, “Ami Birangana Bolchhi” and “Lal Jamin” both reflect the anger of women who made tremendous sacrifices during the Liberation War, yet received nothing in return.
On the inaugural day, Theatre (Bailey Road) staged its resurrected version of the old play “Kokilara”. Featuring veteran actor Ferdausi Majumdar as the protagonist, Sudip Chakraborthy has re-designed the play. The play was originally written and directed by the late Abdullah Al Mamun.
“Kokilara” is a monologue of a poor girl, who arrives in the city from a remote area and comes face to face with the hardship of living in an urban area. The girl, Kokila, is abused by one of her landlords, while the others ironically take stands against her.
Apart from redesigning, Chakraborthy also did the light design for the play. The play narrates the story of a young girl. Initially it was a bit discomfiting to see veteran actor Ferdausi Majumdar in the role; nevertheless she matched the role with her brilliant performance. Majumdar was the actor during the play's early phase as well.
On the second day, Nagarik Natyangan staged “Ami Birangana Bolchhi”. Lucky Enam has adapted the play from Dr. Nilima Ibrahim's literary work. Enam also directed the play and acted as the protagonist.
The play is about a woman named Shefali, who has lost everything during the war. Although the nation has recognised women like Shefali as Birangana, the question that the play throws up is how much have we given them back in return?
Mahmudul Islam Selim was the set, light and art designer of the play.
Shunnon Theatre's “Lal Jamin” was staged on the last day. The monodrama -- based on the Liberation War has been written by Mannan Heera and directed by Sudip Chakraborthy. The play reveals a female freedom fighter's involvement in the war and her woes after 41 years of independence.
Momena Chowdhury, played the protagonist. Ramiz Raju and Julfikar Chanchal directed the music. An added attraction is a flute recital by Bari Siddiqui.
A large audience enjoyed the shows each day.
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