Fazle Rabbi Khan

To celebrate the life and works of William Shakespeare on his 400th death anniversary early next year, the British Council is going to organise various cultural programmes around the world titled ‘Shakespeare Lives’.
In Bangladesh, the British Council, in collaboration with Dhaka Theatre and UK’s Graeae Theatre Company, will hold a unique production of Shakespeare’s romantic play, ‘Romeo and Juliet’, featuring young artistes with disabilities, the organisers said at a press conference to   launch the initiative on November 12 in Dhaka.
The actors are drawn from different groups of people with disabilities, with participants from Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP), BRAC, Bangladesh Reform Initiatives for Development, Governance and Empowerment and Gram Theatre.
The production of ‘A Different Romeo and Juliet’ will be led by Jenny Sealey, artistic director of Graeae Theatre Company, and Nasiruddin Yousuf of Dhaka Theatre.
“I feel so very privileged to be part of this epic journey of discovering the talent of disabled people in Bangladesh. The project is extremely important because it challenges people’s perception of what deaf and disabled people can do. It will place them in the universal love story of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and we will create a world where everyone has the right to love and be loved,” said Sealey.
“Shakespeare’s works transcend the boundaries of time and culture. I am honoured to be a part of this grand project based on his work, which aims to reach a large audience with a thought-provoking message. The eternal story of Romeo and Juliet performed by young artistes with disabilities, yet highly talented, on the biggest cultural stages of the country will show that ‘limitation’ is only a word, which can be surpassed with plan and practice,” said  Yousuff.
British Council director Barbara Wickham and deputy director Matt Pusey were also present at the press event, held at their office in Fuller Road.
The Council started the project in 2013 with acting workshops, focussing on empowering people with disabilities and giving them a tool to explore their identity, facilitate social exclusion and enhance their sense of self-worth.