BotTala theatre troupe is set to restage “Rise and Shine”, a play centred on the struggles of working-class women, at the Experimental Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on May 19 at 7:00pm.

Written by Italian playwrights Dario Fo and Franca Rame, the play has been adapted from English into Bangla by Prof Abdus Selim and directed by M Sayeed.

According to the troupe, the production portrays the everyday hardships of exploited and marginalised people through the life of a labouring woman. At the centre of the story is “Moiramer Ma”, a character representing garment workers and other economically vulnerable people navigating systemic inequality and domestic strain.

Director M Sayeed described the production as a reflection of ordinary women’s lives. “This is the story of almost every mother and working woman. The audience may see one performer on stage, but they will recognise many familiar faces within her journey,” he said.

The narrative follows the exhausting cycle of factory overtime, financial hardship and emotional pressure, before moving toward resistance and self-assertion.

The cast includes Kazi Roksana Ruma, Ashraful Ashru, Affan Rahman and Monira Khatun Srishti, among others.

Ruma, who plays a garment worker in the production, said audiences would find echoes of familiar lives in the character. “It is the story of a woman trapped between survival and domestic responsibility,” she said.

“Rise and Shine” first premiered in June 2022 and has since been staged several times.