National Street Theatre Fest at Central Shaheed Minar

“Protibad” is among five plays staged on day four. Photo: Jamil Mahmud

The weeklong National Street Theatre Festival 2013 is currently being held at the Central Shaheed Minar premises in Dhaka. The festival was inaugurated on February 1 with the staging of several street plays. Former Chief Justice Muhammad Habibur Rahman formally inaugurated the festival.
Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation has been organising the festival.
The festival features nearly 40 plays by troupes from and outside Dhaka. Everyday a significant number of audiences gather at the venue to watch the plays bearing social messages.
On day four (February 4), five plays were staged. Kheyali Natya Gosthi staged “Shamprotik Shamachar”. Written and directed by AKA Kabir, the story of the play highlights contemporary socio-political issues.
The day's other plays were “Bibaha Prostab” (by Bibartan, Jessore), “Is Mosquito Equal to Man?” (Dhaka Drama), “Protibad” (Shaheed Sufi Natyachakra, Faridpur) and “Khun” (Shanchalak).
Written and directed by Abu Harun, Dhaka Drama's play “Is Mosquito Equal to Man?” narrates social anomalies through the eyes of a mosquito.
On the other hand, written and directed by Brishti Malakar, Shaheed Sufi Natyachakra's play “Protibaad” is based on the Liberation War. The story narrates atrocities in 1971 by the Pakistani Army and its local collaborators.
The festival will end tomorrow.
Apart from this central festival, a series of divisional festivals will gradually take place in seven cities throughout the month of February.
The Dhaka divisional festival will take place in Narayanganj from February 9 to 11 and the Chittagong divisional event will be held in Chittagong city from February 16 to 17.