Fortnight-long DU annual theatre fest begins today

Emami Fair and Handsome and Channel i have raised the curtains on the first reality show for men in Bangladesh, titled 'Handsome The Ultimate Man'. Word to this effect was made at a press conference on November 20 at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel. Contestants will be put through many tough and challenging on-ground, above the ground and under water tasks. The last date for registration is December 10, 2012. Men (18 and above) can register on www.htum.tv. The show will also accept postal registration through P.O box number 2433 or on Facebook.

A fortnight-long annual theatre festival, organised by Dhaka University (DU) and managed by its Department of Theatre, begins this evening at the TSC Auditorium on campus.
Seventeen plays will be staged at the festival. The plays are being directed, translated and performed by the students and teachers of the department.
Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique, Vice Chancellor, DU is expected to formally inaugurate the festival this evening. The inaugural ceremony will be followed by staging of Buddhadev Basu's “Prothom Partho”. Directed by Ahmedul Kabir, the play was premiered a month earlier at the Natmandal auditorium.
The other plays to be staged include “Military” (playwright: Munier Chowdhury); “One for the Road” (Harold Pinter); “Bagh” (Badal Sircar); “My Oedipus Complex” (Franc O'Connor); “The Misunderstanding” (Albert Camus); “The Lesson” (Eugene Ionesco); “Padmabati” (Alaol); “Tota Kahini” (Rabindranath Tagore) and the “The Dark Lady of the Sonnets” (George Bernard Shaw).
Apart from the classics, a play, “Bibor”, written and directed by a DU student, Naorin Sazzad, will also be staged at the festival.
Inclusion of an Italian theatre company, Academia Mutamenti, will be the highlight of the festival. The company will stage a single-performer play “The Bandits' Queen” on November 27.
The organisers have also invited Department of Drama and Dramatics, Jahangirnagar University and Department of Theatre, Chittagong University to stage plays.
Everyday plays will start at 6:30 pm. The festival will continue till December 5.