18-day ‘National Theatre Festival’ is currently underway in the capital. As a part of the ongoing festival, three noteworthy plays ‘Bandh’, ‘Condemned Cell’ and ‘Shesh Songlap’ will be staged today evening. Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) is going to stage its theatrical production titled 'Bandh' today at its National Theatre Hall. Dramatised and directed by Dr Mohammad Bari, the play focuses on the flood-affected village of Niamat Nagar and how the calamity has impacted the sufferings of the village people. In addition to the devastation, two rival groups of the village fight on a dam; even they divide the area of the dam into two parts  and continue their fight until the dam completely sinks down into the water.  Seeing the floating group of ants staying together to save their lives, the rivals feel that there is no alternative but to stop the fight and focus on saving their lives. Love and care soon start to grow among the villagers. The cast of the drama includes Taufiqul Islam Emon, Saif Sumon, AK Azad Setu, Ehsanur Rahman, Bakar Bokul, Muhammad Bari, Hasnat Ripon, Kazi Rakib, Mitu, Mintu Sarder, Kanta Zaman, Shahriar Shohad, Mahfuz Sumon and Rafiqul Islam, among others.
On the other hand, popular theatre troupe Prangane Mor will stage its new play titled ‘Condemned Cell’ at the Experimental Theatre Hall of BSA, while Somoy will stage its highly-praised production ‘Shesh Songlap’ at 7pm at the Mahila Samity Mancha, Baily Road.
Written by Ananta Hira and directed by Awal Reza, ‘Condemned Cell’ is the 10th production for Prangane Mor, which was premiered on April 1 this year.
In ‘Condemned Cell’, the story and the characters are imaginary. With the theme of the Liberation War in 1971, where people of Bangladesh were made to suffer brutally at the hands of the Pakistani forces, the Razakars and Al Badrs, where so many people lost their lives. Imaginary stories and characters are depicted through the play.
All the incidents of the play will take place in the prison, where only prisoners who have been sentenced or ‘condemned’ to death remain according to the jail code.
The cast of the play includes Nuna Afroz, Ananta Hira, Awal Reza, Ramiz Raju, Zahidul Islam, Mainul Towheed, Subaktagin Shubho, Shubheccha, Tuhin, Sujon, Sohag, Sujoy, Prokriti and others.
Moreover, directed by Akhteruzzaman, ‘Shesh Songlap’ is adapted from Egyptian playwright Towfiq Al Hakim's well-acclaimed play ‘Sultan’s Dilemma,’ while Syed Jamil Ahmed and M Saiful Alam Chowdhury translates it into Bangla. Renowned artist Dhali Al Mamoon designed the poster of the production while the set of the play is designed by Fayez Zahir and Komol Khalid did the music.
The cast of the play includes Pavel Islam, Riaz Mahmud, Arifuzzaman, Ishita Chaki, Tofayel Sarkar, Fakhrul Islam and Mosharaf Hossain, among others.
To note, BSA and Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation (BGTF) have jointly organised the ‘National Theatre Festival 2016’, where a total of 58 troupes from across the country is staging their plays at four venues of BSA and Mahila Samiti, Baily Road. The festival, which is open to all, will be continued till October 11.