Palakar theatre group is set to stage its latest production, “Ek Koti Monowara”, at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in the capital on August 13.
Written by Badruzzaman Alamgir and directed by Mir Mehbub Alam Nahid, the play will have its premiere at the academy’s Studio Theatre Hall at 7pm. A second show will be held at the same venue and time on August 14.
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According to Palakar, the contemporary political allegory explores the individual and the state, justice, memory, motherhood, resistance and the human instinct to survive.
The play unfolds inside a closed-door auditorium that gradually transforms into a symbolic courtroom. As two lawyers argue their cases, fragments of history, echoes of memory and contemporary realities converge to reveal an extraordinary story rooted in the lives of ordinary people.
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At its centre is Abul Fazal, a working-class man who suddenly disappears, and his pregnant wife Rokhsana, who waits endlessly for his return. Her personal anguish and the struggle of a marginalised person gradually expand into a larger question about an entire nation.
Director Mir Mehbub Alam Nahid said the production seeks to reconsider questions surrounding the state, power, justice, memory and resistance through a distinctive theatrical language.
“It is not merely a theatre production, but an artistic attempt to rethink our time, the state, memory, justice and resistance. Through a blend of reality and symbolism, the play asks who Monowara is—an unborn child, a mother or a dream—and explores how personal grief can transform into collective resistance,” he said.
The production features Ekamoni Ghosh, Manisha Ghosh, Fahmida Mallik Shishir, Munira Aboni, Charu Pintu, Ramiz Patowary, Tajin Binte Khaled Drishti, Tagar Tihan, Tanzida Israat Jahan Ritu and Jacqueline Kabya.
Aniket Pal Babu is responsible for the stage design and choreography, while Amlan Biswas has handled lighting design and Munira Aboni the costume design.
