Theatre troupe Natyadhara premiered its latest production “Rother Roshi” at the Experimental Theatre Hall, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on June 24. The neo-classic Tagore play was directed by Ashish Khondker. Veteran theatre personality Ataur Rahman formally announced the premiere and attended the show.
“Rother Roshi” is one of the most popular plays by Tagore. It has been performed numerous times in Bangladesh and India. The story draws elements from the class system, politics and need to establish equality. The play is about the eternal but seemingly static chariot of time, as the symbolic God refuses to move it. Overall, the play addresses contemporary global politics.
The storyline follows Tagore's original text to reveal realism within his extremely metaphoric presentation.
The play follows a 'roth jatra', an ancient ritualistic Hindu festival. People start gathering at the venue, early in the morning. Efforts are made to move the 'roth' (chariot), but to everyone's surprise it doesn't budge. A priest comes and reads out the holy words, but the chariot remains stationary. The warriors come and pull the bridle but to no avail.
Fear and anxiety take over; devotees start wailing. Priests proclaim, “great danger and disaster await.”
In this chaos, a group of workers come and pull the ropes. To everyone's shock, the chariot slowly starts to move. But all does not end well; instead of moving in the right direction, the mammoth chariot starts moving towards the people. Interestingly, soldiers think it is moving towards the arsenal, the priest thinks it is coming towards the temple, and the affluent are afraid it will crush the treasury.
The director sees the play as an epic canvas with a periodic feel and tries to discover a way to break it down into an open-ended form, to allow audience an opportunity to examine it.
The cast included Sabyasachi Chanchal, Masud Parvez, Kamal Hossain, Bishwajit Sarker, Alok Saha Babu, Kazi Uzzal, Ashrafun Nehar, Shamsun Nahar and Hafsa Aktar.
Apart from directing, Ashish Khondker also directed the music and designed props for the play. Faiz Zahir designed the set and light. Artist Chandra Sekhar Saha was the costume designer.
“Rother Roshi” is Natyadhara's 19th production. The play received a grant from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.
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