Dedicated to direction

A scene from the play Golmatha Chokhamatha directed by Shaheen

After spending a few years with Aranyak, in 1988 he proceeded to the National School of Drama, India (NSD) to pursue studies in direction. He received a diploma in 1991 from NSD. Shaheen says, 'I widened my theatrical horizons at NSD. I learnt to channelise the thought process of characters and other attributes like sincerity, commitment and discipline. I also had the opportunity to work with famous directors like Fritz Denivid, BV Karanth, Kanhaiya Lal and Paniker.'

Shaheen went to Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata for his Ph.D research in the year 1993 and at the same time he worked as a lecturer at the university. He completed his Ph.D in 2002. During that period, he also worked with Padatik (a theatre group in Kolkata). Shaheen directed two plays for Padatik. One was Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and the other was Dybbuk by An Sky Besides this, he has conducted many workshops in various states of India.

Among Shaheen's remarkable works as director are Oedipus by Sophocles, A Doll's House by Ibsen, Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, Toba Tek Singh by Sadaat Hassan Manto, The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie, Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett and The Would be Gentleman by Moliere.

Apart from his works with the university, he also works as a freelancer. His noteworthy freelance work is Golmatha Chokhamatha, a translation of The Roundheads and Peakheads by Bertolt Brecht. Amplifying on his role as director, Shaheen said, 'I don't believe in any single form of theatre. Life is a mixture of comedy and tragedy, so I am particularly interested in that form which expresses our life.'

Shaheen has conducted workshops, training programmes, discussion meetings at home and abroad. He worked as a trainer in the 'Popular Theatre Project' organised by Gono Shahajya Shangstha and traveled extensively all over Bangladesh. He also worked with Theatre Centre for Social Development.

Shaheen believes that drama should be introduced as a subject in schools and colleges. Shaheen says, 'If the students get the opportunity to work with drama it will acquaint them with our culture from the very onset.'

At present, Shaheen is directing Macbeth by Shakespeare for the Honors final year and Three Sisters by Chekov for the MA final year students of Dhaka University. Shaheen's future plan is to work with contemporary issues of politics, social system, relationships and human beings.

Shaheen hopes to establish a reparatory company and a visual wing where learners will get practical training on editing and camera work.