A collage of classics

Forty years down the line, Dhaka Theatre has the rare distinction of having produced some of the best artistes in the country: standing tall on stage are Raisul Islam Asad, Shimul Yousuf, Afzal Hossain, Shomi Kaiser and Rosy Siddiqui, among others. Syed Shamsul Haque delivers the welcome address. Beside him is Nasiruddin Yousuff, director and organiser of Dhaka Theatre.

"Dhaka Theatre" was aptly named when it was founded 40 years ago by a group of young, spirited cultural activists with a dream to bring something new to the table. Today the name has become immensely close to the hearts of anyone who has followed the theatre scene of Dhaka. And not just here in Bangladesh, the troupe has taken their productions to the international arena as well, performing on some of the most prestigious stages across the globe. The troupe also claims the bragging rights of producing some of the finest artistes of the country whose works have transcended the stage and blossomed on television and film as well; the likes of Raisul Islam Asad, Humayun Faridee, Pijush Bandhyopadhyay, Afzal Hossain, Subarna Mustafa, Shahiduzzaman Selim and Shomi Kaiser have belonged to and enthralled audiences for years on the stage of Dhaka Theatre.
So it would come as no surprise that the 40-year celebration of the troupe will be graced by the presence of some of the stalwarts of the country's theatre arena, and a packed house at the National Theatre Hall of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Monday was treated to glimpses of the best of the troupe's productions, in chronological order. Dressed in all white seated in a semicircle at the edge of the stage were the current and former members, and as articulated narrations walked the audience through the glorious history of the troupe, pieces of some of their most acclaimed productions were staged.

Beginning with their 1973 production "Shongbad Cartoon", scenes from "Jaundice O Bibidho Balloon", "Muntasir" (originally titled "Muntasir Fantasy"), "Shakuntala", "Kirtonkhola", "Keramot Mongol", "Hat-Hodai", "Chaka", "Joiboti Konya'r Mon", "Bonopangshul", "Prachyo", "Nimojjon", "Dhaboman" and "The Tempest" were brought alive by veterans and current artistes alike.
But they were not just pieces from plays; on one end, they were a timeline of the troupe's evolution -- showing the various styles they adopted, the experiments they did and how they became what they were, and in a bigger picture, showed how Dhaka's theatre culture itself has blossomed since Independence till now. Striking instances of the various genres -- starting from satire to surrealism to their very own genre of narrative "Kotha-Natyo", from vastly experimental pieces to the classical textbook formats that the troupe's playwright -- the eminent Selim Al Deen --had explored, were all brought together. Add to that the imposing presence on stage of the likes of Raisul Islam Asad, Shimul Yousuf, Afzal Hossain, Shahiduzzaman Selim, Apurbo Majumdar, Saifudin Ahmed Dulal, Shomi Kaiser and Rosy Siddiqui -- playing out some of the most special characters of their career, and you have the perfect recipe for a theatre conoisseur's all-you-can-experience buffet.

Photo: ATL Aakash

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