Shakespeare in a new light

Marking the global celebration of 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death, British Council Bangladesh, in collaboration with UK's Graeae Theatre Company and Dhaka Theatre, will hold a special staging of Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet”. The play--to be staged in March, 2016—will feature a group of differently-abled young artistes. 

The event was announced at a press meet at British Council in the capital on November 12. Barbara Wickham, director of British Council Bangladesh; Matt Pusey, deputy director of British Council; veteran thespian Nasiruddin Yousuff, and Jenny Sealey, artistic director of Graeae Theatre Company were present at the event. 

The production, termed “A Different Romeo and Juliet” is led by Jenny Sealey and Nasiruddin Yousuff. 

Speaking about the project, Jenny Sealey said, “I feel privileged to be a part of this epic journey of discovering the talents of differently-abled people in Bangladesh. Placing these people in the universal love story of Romeo and Juliet will create a world where everyone has the right to love and to be loved.”

Nasiruddin Yousuff observed that “Shakespeare's masterpiece, being performed by these highly talented people with disabilities, shows that 'limitation' is only a word, which can be surpassed with plan and practice.”

The artistes are drawn from different groups of people in Bangladesh with disabilities, with participants from Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP-Bangladesh), Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), Bangladesh Reform Initiatives for Development, Governance and Empowerment (BRIDGE) and Gram Theatre. 

The British Council started this project in 2013 with a focus on empowering people with disabilities through giving them acting workshops as a tool to help them explore their identity, facilitate social inclusion, and infuse an enriched sense of self-worth into them.