Selim Al Deen's 'Muntasir' Staged at BSA

Muntasir, written by Selim Al Deen, was staged at the Experimental Hall, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) on March 8.  The musical comedy is the tenth production of Natyajon. It is directed by Selim Kamal.

The central character of the play, Muntasir, was portrayed as an aristocratic business-person who kept eating every tangible object, including food, clothing and pottery that he came across. All the other supporting characters of the play appeared to be scared of his never-ending hunger, yet chose to keep serving him. The play reflected on some problematic aspects of our society through colourful props, comical music and exaggerated movements, which kept the audience hooked to the scenes till the end. Muntasir can also be considered as social criticism, which tactfully satirised the selfishness of people in different professions. It also reflected on the existing differences between the upper and lower classes, and how reality is perceived differently for each of those classes. The play provided much 'food' for thought, pun intended, for the audience, who could probably foresee the ending from the events, but were still moved by the execution of Muntasir.

The cast of the production included Tabibul Islam Babu, Bijan Sarkar, Selim Kamal, Mohsin Shamim, Shahin Shibli, Ovi Pramanik, Shariful Islam, Al Imran, Roxi, Sheikh Khair Asha, Maya, Adif and Shanta, among others.