'Platform', 'Shanki' and 'Jantob' staged
Three short plays by Ashish Khondoker
Ershad Kamol
Three short theatre performances by Space and Acting Research Centre, Dhaka, were staged at Natmondal Auditorium, University of Dhaka, on April 29 and April 30. Written and directed by Ashish Khondoker, the common feature of these one-act experimental plays is an attempt to analyse the human psyche. Khondoker has tried to zoom in on the dark sides of human beings. His characters are usually lechers and self-contradicting; cruel yet cowards, realists but like to fanaticise, protest against oppression yet oppress others.The first play Platform can be labelled as 'theatre of absurd'. Two characters -- a vagabond and a junior attendant of a station wait at a platform for a train, numbered 6065. Through 'stream of words', different aspects of the human psyche are highlighted in the play. Both characters hate their traits. The play ends with the characters rejecting the faulty social structure and waiting for the driver of the train who will lead them to a better place. However, they cannot find a person in real life who owns the qualities to be the 'driver' of the train. Who will change the system then? Featuring the tragic story of a couple, the second play Shanki analyses the cruelty of oppressors. Love and passion appear as meaningless 'buzz words' in the play. The last play Jantob presents the onslaught of finance capitalism. The central character of the play is a brutal gangster who wants to rule everything at any cost. As the director of the short plays, Khondoker's endeavour deserves plaudits. Specifically, the play Shanki deserves a special mention. The required tension has been created successfully in the play. However, at times the director's way of presenting the dark sides of human characters might appear 'inappropriate' in terms of the Bangladeshi values.
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A scene from Shanki. PHOTO: STAR |
