Theatre troupe BotTala will stage ‘Crutcher Kornel’, an adaptation of eminent novelist Shahaduzzaman’s novel with the same title, today evening at the ‘Dhaka University (DU) Theatre Festival 2018’. The festival is taking place at the Teachers-Students Centre (TSC) Auditorium of DU in the capital.

Directed by Mohammad Ali Haider and dramatised by Soumya Sarkar and Samina Luthfa Nitra, this is the ninth production of the troupe.

The play ‘Crutcher Kornel’ portrays the life of one of the masterminds of the November 7 coup Colonel Taher, who was executed in 1976. He was an active player in the events of November 1975 that resulted in General Ziaur Rahman coming to power. After taking charge of the army, Ziaur Rahman tried him in a military court for high treason and murder inside the Dhaka Central Jail, and executed on July 21, 1976. In 2011, more than three and a half decades later, the High Court declared that the verdict of the military tribunal and the execution were illegal.

However, the three-day festival, organised by Dhaka University Cultural Society, kicked off yesterday evening. Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University Dr Md Akhtaruzzaman inaugurated the festival as the chief guest and also handed over awards in the ceremony. This year, honourary awards conferred on noted theatre personalities Tropa Majumder, Masum Reza and Mahtab Uddin Arzu.

After the inauguration ceremony, the festival opened with the much-acclaimed play ‘Amina Sundari’ staged by Theatre Art Unit.

The festival will see its end tomorrow with the much-acclaimed production ‘Nityapuran’ to be staged by theatre troupe Desh Natak.

The plays are being staged everyday at 6pm. Tickets cost BDT 50 each play which will be available at the venue before the shows.