Theatre in Bangladesh
| Part of a series on |
| Bengalis |
|---|
 |
Theatre in Bangladesh is believed to have its origin in the 4th century AD in the form of
Sanskrit theatre
Through the conquest of Bengal by the Guptas, the culture of ancient Bangladesh assimilated the Aryan culture of the northern India and got heavily influenced by it. At that time, theatre activities, which was in form of Sanskrit theatre, was generally practised by the urban folks. The vigorous trade by the local people led to the rise of some urban areas which were home to the art and cultural centre of ancient Bangladesh. Lokananda is believed to be a popular play from this period which was structured in four acts with a prologue and was written by Chandragomin.[1]
The close political integration of many parts of ancient Bangladesh with the Aryan culture carried on through the 8th century. During this period, emperors like
The tradition of Sanskrit theatre witnessed a major impediment through the
Folk theatre
The term Folk theatre encompasses all forms of theatre which originated in the geographical region of Bangladesh. Unlike the Sanskrit theatre, the folk theatre was always in direct contact with the people and was often created and supported by them. However, it was not closed to the refined techniques of the Sanskrit theatre. In the folk theatre, the performers include actors, dancers, singers, musicians, and puppeteers (both male and female). Their performance is not restricted to dialogue in prose but is comprehensive and wide-ranging. It includes any one or more of the following elements: (i) dance, (ii) instrumental music and (iii) speech rendered in prose, verse or lyric, either in the form of narration or that of dialogue. The folk theatre of Bangladesh has developed in distinct forms, which can be loosely categorised into (i) the Narrative, (ii) the Song-and-Dance, (iii) the Processional, and (iv) the Supra-personae.[4]
Narrative forms
In the narrative forms of theatre, the lead-narrator (gayen) describes an event, portrays various characters related to the event and enacts the action, all in the third person. While engaged as described above, s/he partly speaks his/her lines in prose, partly recites in verse, and partly sings his/her story. S/he is assisted by the choral singers-cum-musicians (dohars), who employ musical instruments (Mridanga and Mandira) and sing choral passages. The gayen carries a chamar (whisk) in religious performances and occasionally dances while singing. Usually, the performer makes effective use of vocal inflections and physical gestures in his/her portrayal of the characters. Sometimes s/he also readjusts his/her basic costume, and uses a few props to make the portrayal more effective.[5]
Song-and-dance forms
A song-and-dance performance (nata-gita) is characterised by dances rendered by performers enacting characters while singing their lines or dancing silently to songs sung by a group of choral singers and musicians.[6]
Supra-personae forms
The masked dance of the
By the end of the 12th century, when Tantric Saivism in Bangladesh had assimilated decaying Tantric Buddhism, Buddhist masked dances were also adapted to give rise to Mahakali Pyayakhan, Devi Pyayakhan and similar dances. Tantric Saivite masked dances in Bangladesh, unlike those of Kathmandu Valley (Nepal), decayed because of Muslim conquest. What remains today can be seen in Mukho Nacha, Kali Kach, Gambhira festival and Sang Jatra.[8]
Performance with scroll painting
The existence of patuya sangit (performances with scroll paintings) in ancient Bangladesh is confirmed by two sources: Yamapattika as referred to in
Puppet theatre
It is not known when
Processional Forms
Processional performances are characterised by the use of tableaux, music, song and dance, all of which form a part of large processions (jatra) attended by adherents of a particular religious faith. In many ways, these performances hold the key to the history of indigenous theatre because they brought together all the three types discussed above, to give birth to jatra, the most popular form of the indigenous theatre which can claim to be indeed the national theatre idiom.[11]
European influence
Political and economic measures undertaken by the
Theatre during East Pakistan period
Until 1947, the theatre of the urban elite in Bengal was centred in
Theatre in post independence period
Theatre was possibly the most forceful and exuberant expression of post-liberation Bangladesh. Numerous non-professional theatre groups were formed all over the country, modelled after the group theatre movement in post-Nabanna Calcutta. The most important among these in Dhaka city were Theatre (established February 1972), Nagarik Natya Sampraday (established 1968, first performance August 1972), Natyachakra (established August 1972), Aranyak Natyadal (established 1972), Dhaka Theatre (established July 1973) and, in
The first-ever Bangladesh International Theatre Festival was held at
Significance
The culture of theatre has great significance in the history as well as the daily lives of Bangladeshis. The theatre performances had vehemently inspired the independence movements during the British rule in Bangladesh. It also had great impact in the
References
- ^ Bharucha 1993, pp. 3.
- ^ Bharucha 1993, pp. 5.
- ^ Bharucha 1993, pp. 6.
- ^ Bharucha 1993, pp. 7.
- ^ Ahmed 2000, pp. 4.
- ^ Ahmed 2000, pp. 21.
- ^ Ahmed 2000, pp. 52.
- ^ Ahmed 2000, pp. 56.
- ^ Ahmed 2000, pp. 241.
- ^ Ahmed 2000, pp. 184.
- ^ Ahmed 2000, pp. 38.
- ^ Bharucha 1993, pp. 63.
- ^ Vikram Phukan (29 June 2019). "Desi drama, subcontinental style". ‘’The Hindu’’. Mumbai, India. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
Bibliography
- Bharucha, Rustam (1993). Rehearsals for Revolution: The Political Theatre of Bengal. ISBN 9780824808457.
- Al-Deen, Selim (1996). Madhyajuger Bangla Natya. Dhaka: Bangla Academy. p. 528.
- Ahmed, Syed Jamil (2000). Achinpakhi Infinity: Indigenous Theatre of Bangladesh. Dhaka: University Press Ltd. p. 396. ISBN 9840514628.