"The play looks at the problems and struggles of relationships, which is relevant even today. It is about dysfunctional couples that are able to find a way out of their problems. In sum, the theme revolves around people looking for that one person who will keep them down to earth," says Teri Khan, co-producer and co-director of A Little Night Music. Teri, the president of Dhaka Stage, has also done the music direction, along with pianist Saad Chowdhury and Dawne Warkentin.

Gareth, the other producer and director in his brochure note, echoes the same sentiment. He questions, "Is Desiree any more 'right' in wanting to settle down and find 'some sort of coherent existence after so many years of muddle', than Petra is, who wants to experience as many lovers as she can before she resigns herself to a humdrum marriage and family?"

The catchy music and lyrics of A Little Night Music are by Stephen Sondheim. The play is based on one of famous director Ingmar Bergman's earliest films, Smiles of a Summer Night. The plot homes in on a series of turbulent dysfunctional relationships between man and wife, father and son, and lover and mistress.

Among the hard hitting and somber songs are Everyday a little death and the famous Send in the clowns. The latter refers to the 'fools' in love and is sung by the central character Desiree Armfeldt to her lover Fredrik Egerman, who is married to the young and beautiful Anne Egerman. The words go: "Isn't it rich? Are we a pair? Me here at last on the ground, You in mid-air. Send in the clowns."

Another facet of the play is the theme of gender inequality. As Kirk Mitchell (who enacts the role of the autocratic Count Carl Magnus Malcom, also involved with Desiree and Charlotte's husband) sees it, "My character is a caricature of the chauvinistic male. This is relevant even in today's world."

By the end of the play, the jigsaw puzzle of the characters' lives falls into place. It is not just a question of the characters living happily ever after, many questions arise: Will the young Henrik Egerman, Fredrik's son and his stepmother Anne live in eternal bliss after their elopement? Will the uneasy truce between Count Carl Magnus and his wife Charlotte last?

The musical was marked by superb performances, particularly the characters of Desiree (played by Sheilani Nandy), Count Carl Magnus( Kirk Mitchell) and the young Fredrika Armfeldt (Tiahna Warkentin, who plays Desiree's daughter).

Among the Bangladeshis who worked behind the curtains are Bokul Rosario (lights/ sound) and Tony Mazumder (stage hand). For Mazumder, A Little Night Music has been a wonderful break." I am thankful for the exposure to sets, design and production in a western musical," he says. Likewise Rosario enthuses, "I welcome the opportunity to work with the highly professional Dhaka Stage."

As in previous Dhaka Stage productions, the proceeds of ticket sales will go to charity. This time the funds will go to the Gonokbari Centre for Women, an affiliate of the renowned Centre for Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP).

There is, however, a downside: The lengthy (three-hour) musical attracted mostly expats and was not fully attended on the first day. Possibly at the weekend more theatre goers would flock to see this commendable Dhaka Stage production.