Bangladesh has seen a number of fatal accidents in the RMG sector in the past few years. Lives have been lost in these tragedies, which have also left a horrifying effects on everyone in the country, including those in the cultural arena.
To pay tribute to those victims, leading theatre troupe Prachyanat has produced a brand new play.
“Tragedy Palashbari,” the Prachyanat stage production, depicts the tragic collapse of a nine-storey factory at Palashbari in April 2005, when more than 70 RMG workers died. The play opened on Tuesday at the National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.
Written and directed by Azad Abul Kalam, the story revolves around an RMG worker named Tarabhan, Facing dire situation at home – being married to a mentally challenged guy – Tarabhan moves to the capital from the northern part of the country and takes a job in Spectrum factory.
Eventually she overcomes her past and settles in her new life, even finding love in colleague Osman, the floor manager. They mutually decide to start a new life together, but just before the day of their wedding, the deadly incident occurs. Trapped in the wreckage of the collapsed building, Tarabhan shares her story with the audience, mostly in soliloquy.
Tarabhan’s life story may seem clichéd, but the director deliberately put it to help the audience connect more with the play’s subject.
A 27-minute documentary, made by Saiful Islam Jarnal, is projected in the backdrop while the play is performed on the stage, which connects the audience with the fact extensively. The documentary is narrated from the point of view of a fictional Westerner named Mr West, who buys the RMG products but is mostly unaware of the situation because the businesspersons here do not want him informed of the reality. Mr West learns, from the internet and news, about how the factory was literally a death trap for the workers.
The stage design and a specific presentation, which exhibits the debris of the factory including symbolic blood drops on the exit doorway of the theatre, give the play a “site-specific theatre” flavour, as the director is determined to have the audience emotionally connected with the play.
