“The Begum’s Blunder” is an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s “Lady Windermere’s Fan.” Director Naila Azad Nupur’s version of the play takes place in 1920’s Bengal where the elite class whiles away their time in idle gossip at extravagant parties.
The play begins with Begum Mumtaz Nizamuddin (Samreen Islam) receiving a shawl from her husband Aftab Nizamuddin (Baizid Haque Joarder) as a birthday present. Her admirer Darius Shah (Auyon Islam) plants a seed of doubt in her about her husband’s infidelity. The quick-witted Begum immediately checks her husband’s cheque book and finds he indeed had been sending large sums to a "disreputable" woman, Amirun Nahar (Warda). When she confronts her husband, he denies all and insists on inviting Amirun Nahar to her birthday party, so she can mend her reputation. A series of events test the strength of their marriage and crystalizes in the Begum’s mind just how hypocritical the society’s notion of a good or bad woman is.
On June 24, before the play began, producer Sadaf Saaz Siddiqi welcomed the audience members to the first public staging of the show. She informed that the play was performed in a shorter length back in 2018. According to the director, all the actors are non-professionals, yet that wasn’t always evident on stage.
Presented by Jatrik Productions, the entire play is in English. All the actors used a British accent, except the servants, which alludes to how the elite religiously followed the British customs, an aspect that was reflected in most of their dazzling costumes and mannerisms as well. The same set pieces were used to portray different locations. The lighting helped guide the eyes of the audience. However, the background music, likely related to the acoustics of the venue, drowned the dialogues at times when they overlapped. Overall, “The Begum’s Blunder” is a feast for the eyes with the added bonus of being easy to follow.
The play is being staged at Bangladesh Mohila Somity from June 24-27, July 1,2 and 6 at 7pm.