Theatre troupe Srijon Nat premiered its production titled ‘Afsoser Shahar’ at the Nilima Ibrahim Auditorium of Bangladesh Mahila Samity on Thursday.
Afsoser Shahar, the maiden production of Srijon Nat, has been directed by Nazrul Sayed.
Inspired by Intizar Hussain’s story titled ‘Shahr-e-Afsos’, which has been translated into Bangla by Saleh Fuad, Nazrul Sayed has written the script of the lyrical play.
The play revolves around three characters but it does not reveal whether the characters are dead or alive. It begins with the appearance of the three characters, who are both oppressors and oppressed, narrating their experiences of sectarian violence.
The audience gets a glimpse into a society where mothers, sisters, wives and daughters are not safe.
Bandhan Saha, Palak Chakraborty, Monifa Mustafiz Mon, Media Ashakra and Suman Ahmed Rana played different characters in the play.
Nazrul Sayed said that the play was not produced to entertain the audience but to make the audience raise some questions about the existing society.
‘Intizar Hussain wrote the story based on the sectarian violence in 1947. However, I have tried to make the story universal,’ added Nazrul Sayed.
Besides, Samar Kanti was the director’s assistant in the play while Amlan Biswas designed stage lighting, Media Ashakra designed props and costumes and Saumya and Nazrul designed stage and music of the play.
Srijon Nat was established by the students of Tagore University of Creative Arts in 2022. Since the troupe’s founding, Srijon Nat staged selected parts from plays at different events.
Afsoser Shahar is the first complete play produced by the troupe.