Splendid performance by children

Danish Ambassador Niels Severin Munk speaks at the discussion session of the programme

The Ambassador of the Royal Danish Embassy, Niels Severin Munk, poet Asad Chowdhury and Kochi Kanchar Mela Director Khondoker Ibrahim Khaled spoke on the life and timeless tales of Hans Christian Andersen. After the discussion session, the Danish Ambassador launched the cover of a book titled Rupkothar Nayok Hans Christian Andersen written by Mustafa Majid.

The story of the play, staged by the little members of Kochi Kanchar Mela, is about an emperor whose only ambition is to always be well-dressed. One day two swindlers come to the city. They make people believe that they are weavers and declare that they can manufacture the finest cloth imaginable.

The swindlers also claim that their clothes are made of such material that it possesses the wonderful quality of being invisible to any man who is unfit for the emperor's office or unpardonably stupid. When the emperor hears the news he thinks that if he has a suit like this he will be able to find out unfit men for their positions and can distinguish the clever from the stupid. So, he employs the two weavers to make the cloth for him.

But when the cloth is brought to the emperor, like all other people he cannot see it. He however denies the truth and pretends to see the exclusive colours and patterns of the cloth. Finally, on a special occasion the emperor wears the invisible cloth and all who see him exclaim that the emperor's new suit is incomparable. The reason: Nobody wished to be identified as unfit for his office or too stupid. Only one little child speaks out :"But he has nothing on at all." And then one by one everybody of the city including the stupid emperor realise the truth.

Translated by poet Asad Chowdhury and directed by Amal Biswas Katha, the play featured Mahmudul Hasan Siddiqui as the emperor and Suzana Shafi Titli and Debosri Mukharjee Annie as the two weavers. The other characters were played by Taposh Sarkar, Souro Dwip, Sayem Afroz, Aritro Paul, Nayla, Imtiaz Uddin, Saima Mutmaibba, Abeda Sultana Shamma, Ullash, Nishi and Priti.

The performance of the children was splendid and the set, lighting and costume deigns were also impressive. But the organisers should have used microphones because the audience, most of whom were children, could not hear the dialogues clearly at the back. The effort of Kochi Kanchar Mela is appreciable indeed.