'Meemangchina' to be performed in Kolkata
Ershad Kamol
Come December, the Department of Drama and Dramatics of Jahangirnagar University (JU) will go to Kolkata for a drama festival. The occasion, a part of the academic theatre, is at the invitation of Surrect, a theatrical group of Kolkata. Last year, the Department of Theatre and Music of Dhaka University took part in the academic theatre festival. In the second session of the festival, which starts from December 17, the Department of Drama and Dramatics of JU will stage a neo-ethnic play Meemangchina on December 18 at Nazrul Stage, Kolkata. A 20-member team, including Dr Afsar Ahmed, Dean of the Arts Faculty and Professor Rashid Haroon, Chairman of the Department of Drama and Dramatics, will participate in the festival. Professor Haroon said, ' The Garo word Meemangchina means a colourful cloth, used during the funeral of the aristocratic Garos. Dr. Afsar Ahmed's neo-ethnic play Meemangchina, based on a Garo tribe, centres on the sufferings of a university student Hrishika after her return to her own ethnic community. The play depicts the conflict between her modern belief and tradition. Hrishika wants to say certain things to her beloved, beside the river Someswari. But, during the romantic sequences, the river symbolises the colourful cloth Meemangchina, used during the funeral. Haroon further said, 'In fact, it is not our new production. Last year, Dr. Afsar Ahmed did the direction of the play. It is a remake based on Dr Afsar's idea. The performers are all from JU. Besides taking part in the festival, we have plans to stage a few shows at Rabindrabharati also. Moreover, we will regularly stage Meemangchina at the Experimental Theatre Stage at Shilpakala Academy.'
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A scene from the play Meemangchina |
