After a six-year hiatus, theatre troupe Upstage is bringing back its debut production “Raat Bhore Brishti” to the stage, with four shows scheduled at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka.

The play will be performed at the Experimental Theatre Hall on April 1 and 2 at 7:30 pm, and on April 3 at 5:00 pm and 7:30 pm.

Originally premiered on July 19, 2019, the production was last staged in 2020. Its return marks a revival of one of the troupe’s early works, now revisited with changes in staging and design.

Based on Buddhadeva Bose’s controversial novel “Raat Bhore Brishti”, first published in 1967, the play draws from a text that once faced a ban. The novel was declared obscene and anti-social by a court, leading to a prohibition that remained in place for nearly six years before being lifted.

The stage adaptation and direction are by Saif Sumon. The cast includes Kazi Rokshana Ruma, Prashanta Halder, and Ranjan Dey Sathi.

Speaking about the production, Sumon said the play explores the psychological and emotional tensions within marriage, focusing on three individuals caught in the complex dynamics of a shared domestic life.

“The middle class occupies one of the most complex layers of society,” he said. “This play examines the mental and physical tensions within middle-class marital relationships—the unspoken conflicts, the doubts, the fragile balance of trust and distrust.”

He added that the production prioritises performance, while also retaining the linguistic richness of Buddhadeva Bose’s original work. The revival features adjustments in set, costume, acting, and overall design.

The play was last staged on March 4, 2020, at Jahangirnagar University. A subsequent show scheduled for March 24 at the Shilpakala Academy was cancelled due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.