Dhaka Drama Festival 2004
An attack on man's animal instinct
What is the difference between man and animal? When a human being loses rationality and humanity, does any difference remain? Absurd playwright Eugine Ionesco's playLes Rhinocerosconfronts these questions.Les Rhinocerosis set against the backdrop of the Totalitarian social structure of France during the World War II. During this occupation of the German Nazism, some rational intellectuals of France became the part of Totalitarianism forgetting their rationality.
Prachyanut staged the translated version of Ionesco's play Gonder at the Experimental Theatre Stage on July 22 as part of the drama festival arranged by BGTF.
'All my plays have their origin in two fundamental states of consciousness: now the one, now the other is predominant, and sometimes they are combined. These basic states of consciousness are an awareness of evanescence and of solidity, of emptiness and too much presence, of the unreal transparency of the world and its opacity, of light and of thick darkness,' said Eugine Ionesco on his drama concept.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Rhinoceros was described by Ionesco as 'an anti-Nazi play.' In the background of the story was Ionesco's disgust when he saw how his friend slowly accepted Nazism.
In Gonder, Bérenger, an average middle-class citizen, shows little interest in the fact that a rhinoceros is on the loose in the city. He is surrounded by people who forsake their humanity and rationality, and symbolically transform into rhinoceroses. He quarrels with his friend Jean and Daisy, who represent rationality and humanity. In the office, Bérenger witnesses that the staff is gradually joining the rhinoceroses. Finally, when Jean and Daisy too turn into rhinoceroses, Bérenger decides to defend his humanity with a gun.
Director Gazi Toufiqul Islam Emon has successfully handled the play. The most interesting feature of his direction is handling two or more sequences simultaneously on the stage, which is a basic concept of the Theatre of the Absurd.
However, his choreography in the scene of Jean's transformation into a rhinoceros needs improvement.
Shaiful Islam's set and light design is appropriate for the theme of the play. His skyscrapers made of greenish cloth symbolically represent the wildness borne within us despite the advancement of the civilisation. In the case of light designing, he has given more emphasis on red and green colours for symbolical presentation of the sequences.
Rahul Anand, the music composer of the play, has used acoustics through out the play. More over he has created especial sound effects by a bamboo made instrument to effect the transformation of a human being to a rhinoceros.
All the performers especially Azad Abul Kalam as Jean, Rubel as Bérenger, Heera as the Intellectual and Ehsan as the Hotel Owner played well.
'I always go for suggestive design'--Faiz Zahir
Faiz Zahir is a popular set designer of the country. A regular member of Aranyak Natya Dal, Zahir has so far designed stagecrafts for 15 plays. On his design procedures Zahir says, 'As realistic set design is expensive, I always go for suggestive settings. Basically using bamboo, wood, paper, stick and cloth as materials I create these suggestions.' One would not believe that the total cost for stagecrafts in the play Shankranti was less than taka 100!
In the festival, Zahir has designed sets for Mayur Shinghashon and Teerthankar. He says, 'I basically try to touch the theme and time of the play through the design and colour of my sets.'
Zahir is also a light designer. Recently he has emerged as a director. He has directed Teerthankar, a Shubachan Natya Shangshod production, which has been staged in the festival.
Ershad Kamol