Despite the commotion and the location of the staging, the National Street Theatre Festival garnered a galore of audience attention. It is because, the focus of the plays are on significant issues and the performance by the actors were commendable. Today’s schedule is comprised of five plays, Juddho Ebong Juddho, Brishbrikkha, Joratali, Dushmon, Kal-er Sakkhi and Narai.
On February 4, the fourth day of the festival, four plays were staged at the Shaheed Minar premises, with the central focus being the liberation war and how people use religion to serve their own purpose.
The show began with a play named Rifle, an adaptation of the legendary German playwright Bertolt Brecht’s work Señora Carrar’s Rifles, staged by Shabda Natyacharcha Kendra. The play’s storyline setting is re-located to the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.
The play was followed by Aadom Test, written by Masum Reza and directed by Ayon Chaudhury and staged by Desh Natok. The story of the play revolves around a phony religious leader, who found a magnifying glass in his dream and mislead his followers by saying that the glass can identify a pure devout. His followers start to look for devout with the glass. When his wife learns about her husband’s forgery, she reveals that he is a fake.
Mrittika Kathon, written and directed by Kazi Delwar Hemanto was brought to the stage by Manos Natya Ongan. The play symbolically portrayed a rural liberated and playful Bengal society, where everyone wholeheartedly tries to keep it light and secluded from the enemy’s hand, even at the cost of their own lives.
Theatre troupe Shabdaboli (Barisal) staged Boddhobhumite Shesh Drishya, a play written by Kazi Mahmudur Rahman and directed by Anowar Shamim. The story of the play illustrated the annihilating sight of a mass graveyard during the Liberation War, where a confined duo, a freedom fighter and a Bengali woman share their angst and optimism.
Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation has organised the National Street-theatre Festival 2014, to mark the International Mother Language Day and Martyrs’ Day. The programme began on February 1 and will continue until February 7. The slogan of the festival is “Culture against violence.” Around 35 theatre troupes from all over the country including Udichi, Dhaka Sanskritik Dol, Mahakal Natya Sampraday, Opera, Muktangan Natyalay, Brahmanbaria Shahitya Academy, Drishtipat, Bonolota and others are taking part on the seven-day long festival.