World Theatre Day
Swapnadal to stage Chitrangada at BSA today
DL desk
To observe World Theatre Day, Swapnadal, one of the most vibrant theatre troupes in the country, is going to stage its much-acclaimed production titled Chitrangada today at the Experimental Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA), Segun Bagicha in the capital.
Chitrangada is the 11th production of Swapnadal, written by Nobel Laureate Poet Rabindranath Tagore and directed by Zahid Repon.
The script of the play is an adaptation of a tale in the great eastern epic Mahabharata, but with new and modern interpretations. The story of Chitrangada is centred around the mythological hero Arjuna and the princess of Manipur, Chitrangada, who was brought up as a son by her father and trained up as a warrior. But being acquainted with Arjuna, Chitrangada falls in love with him. Watching her so-called external glamourless appearance, Arjuna refuses her love.
Rabindranath wrote the play in two different forms or versions. In 1892, when he was only 31 years old, he wrote Chitrangada in Poetic Drama (Kabyanatya) form. But 44 years later, in 1936, he wrote it in Dance Drama (Nrityanatya) form based on the same story. Swapnadal has prepared the production Chitrangada with the Poetic Drama version. It may be mentioned that Dance Drama form of Chitrangada is well known, because it has been performed by a good number of organisations. On the other side, the Poetic Drama version of Chitrangada has not been staged regularly in modern stage before Swapnadal.
To pay homage to the greatest playwright and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore on his 150th Birth Anniversary (2011), Swapnadal produced the theatre-production Tagores Poetic Drama Chitrangada.
Where: BSA, Segun Bagicha
When: 7pm, today
