Seventh Children's Theatre Festival begins

A colourful procession brought out by Peoples Theatre Association

Eminent cultural personality Mostafa Monwar, the chief guest, inaugurated the ceremony while Ramendu Majumdar, Nasiruddin Yousuff, M Hamid and SM Mohsin took part in a discussion. The opening ceremony was presided over by Secretary General of People's Theatre Association, Liaquat Ali Lucky.

Mostafa Monwar said, "Children are staging varied forms of theatre in Bangladesh. There should be more colourful occasions like the present one."

Discussants in the programme highly appreciated the initiative taken by PTA. They further added that while the state cannot extend patronage for children's cultural activities, the initiative taken by PTA is commendable. In their view, the promotion of culture will help create good human beings -- a badly needed segment in the current unstable socio-political milieu. Moreover, they were hopeful that the festival would provide an impetus in the creation of new theatre activists.

Liaquat Ali Lucky said, "We hope to hold the festival in an international forum within a few years."

Five troupes-- People's Repertory Theatre, Panchagarh Government BP High School Children Theatre, Diamond Club from Jessore, Bidrohi Shishu Theatre from Panchagarh and Miti Natya Shangho from Faridpur-- staged plays on the opening day.

The organisers however added that due to unavoidable circumstances, the schedule might change.