T I Emon: A director with dash and dare

T I Emon

When he directed Gondar, written by Ionesco, he read the script to realise that the play had a universal appeal. Giving the story line, Emon said that 'The characters presented in the play lose their humanity and despite losing their humanity make no protest. The people in their crazy pursuit of self-satisfaction, make no protest against the barbarity that ensues in the finale. In the final analysis no individuality is left.' Emon says that each one apes another in a grotesque stampede. This is a mirror of modern society, which ranges from the intellectuals to the ordinary farmers and fishermen, he adds. Protesting against this 'mad, mad world' is a single character, Barenjer.

Asked to elaborate the cause for the rave revues that his plays get, Emon says that that those who present plays are too concerned with star studded productions rather than a major play production. Due to lack of media, coverage at times, good productions do not necessarily win plaudits. The plays that he directs, he insists are undoubtedly something to write home about.

Talking about the problems he faces, Emon explains that the revenues from the programmes , advertisements and the sale of tickets are not enough. He and his colleagues have to depend on supportive families and make personal sacrifices to achieve their goal.

Explaining how he went into direction, Emon says that he has been working since 1990. For quite some time he was with Aronna with Mamanur Rashid. From there he and his colleagues progressed to a play group called Prachcha Nat, under the leadership of Azad Abdul Kalam. 'Everyone in the group was a young theatre worker like myself . I was naturally helped by my supportive parents, who were culturally oriented. In Bangladesh, my senior colleauges like Manur Rashid and Azad Abdul Kalam, a relatively young but successful director influenced me. I was influenced by Usha Ganguli from India from the group 'Ranga Karmi', who has presented 'Rudali' and 'Court Martial',among other successful plays. I saw plays at Kolkata, India, when our group went to present 'Konnya' and 'Circus Circus'.

Asked to say in what way his group was different from those of other successful ones, Emon says, 'We are young but all of us have our Masters. We work at Scholastica School's Theatre section. Scholastica is the only school where Drama is being taught seriously in Dhaka. There are four of us, including Azad A Klam, Sakhawat Hussain Rizvi and Shumi.'

Commenting on why he does not aspire to direct TV plays, which would get him a larger audience, like most serious Bangladeshi directors of repute, Emon explains that he does not aspire for the easy success of our local TV plays , which he considers mostly insipid and facile.