I am involved in theatre as an activist for the last 43 years. My main role in theatre centres around direction and acting. In my stride, I have had the fortune of working in plays of varied genre and that too, with a good number of theatre groups. I am not a theatre critic but tempted to write about neo-play productions which I am drawn to and in the process, I have compiled a book about my views, pro and contra about the play-productions that I saw, which was published with the gracious initiative of a well-known publisher. Recently I have seen two very talked about plays produced by Natyakendra. This double bill comprises of the 13th and 14th productions of the aforementioned troupe. One of the plays is Banduk Juddho adapted from The Trap by Alfred Farag and the other is Gadhar Haat adapted from The Donkey Market by Tawfiq al-Hakim. Both the playwrights are Egyptian, of which our audience-spectators acquainted with Tawfiq al-Hakim.
Tariq Anam Khan, a stalwart theatre practitioner of the country, has done both the adaptations in Bangla; he planned and directed the plays as well. I can confidently say that Tariq lived up to his reputation which he had shown in his early directorial assignments. Bichchhu (an adaptation of Moliere’s The Scoundrel Scapin), The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Aroj Charitammrita by Masum Reza and Tughlaq by Girish Karnad are to name a few. Tariq, although deeply involved in stage theatre as an actor-director, aptly traversed the domain of television plays and cinema as a prominent actor.
I was really impressed by both plays that I recently watched, because of the messages they delivered, good acting and well thought out stage designs. The first play depicts the contemporary trend of deceitful human dealings which lead to scuffles resulting in the killing of people. It almost felt as though I am watching a super mini plot of the FBI or CIA. The storyline is very intriguing, quite identifiable with the scenario of rural areas and ethnic people. There are no loose ends in the 35 minutes play. As soon as it ended, I was asking myself the question: “Is it possible to detach morality from politics?” All the characters in the play presented themselves impressively and Ariq, the lead actor, delivered a stunning performance with his penetrating eyes and hoarse voice. Eminent light designer Nasirul Haque Khokon created an ambience of light and shadow befitting the play.
The second play Gadhar Haat has been adapted from Tawfiq-al-Hakim’s The Donkey Market, a hilarious comedy with an obvious dark tone. This is also a short play of about 45 minutes. The presentation of the play has an inclination to vibrant and colourful style of commedia dell’arte, of course with a local outfit. As a peasant’s wife, Sangeeta Chowdhury competently maintained the augmented style of acting suited to that in commedia del’arte. The two characters of the play acted really well. Stage decor and other designs including the use of masks were appropriate. While watching the play it suddenly struck to me that the donkey is perhaps the most respectable and compassionate being in the world.
