Theatre returns to the stage at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Saturday as the ‘Nobin-Probin Natyamela’ festival opens, marking the resumption of regular cultural programming after a brief suspension.
Organised by Natyatirtha with support from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and the Shilpakala Academy, the festival will run until December 26. Performances will take place each evening at the National Theatre Hall, bringing together productions by both emerging and veteran theatre practitioners.
The opening performance tonight at 7:00 pm is ‘Kanthanalite Surjo’, a play by poet and playwright Mohit Chattopadhyay. Written as his first full-length original work, the production unfolds in a myth-infused setting and centres on a mysterious visitor to a clinic who claims the sun is lodged in his throat. His dilemma, whether to remove it or keep it within himself, triggers humour, debate and conflict among those around him.
The festival also signals a return to normal operations at the Shilpakala Academy, which had suspended all programmes from December 19 following the declaration of state mourning on December 20 by Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus after the death of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi. With the mourning period now over, previously scheduled events have resumed as planned.
Nobin-Probin Natyamela aims to create a shared platform for different generations of theatre artists, celebrating both new voices and established practitioners within Bangladesh’s stage tradition.
