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'Bhelua Sundari' by Centre for Asia Theatre, Bangladesh



Director: Sydur Rahman Lipon

Institution: Centre for Asia Theatre, Bangladesh

Venue: Experimental Theatre, the Central Academy of Drama, China

Time: 16:00-17:30/19:15-20:45, May 20, 2008

Event: ATEC 3rd International Forum


Director’s Notes

Bhelua Sundari

New Performance Technique of Palagan

Kamaluddin Nilu

Bangladesh has a rich tradition with numerous indigenous theatrical forms. The various forms originated during different historical periods, and most of them were practised only in a limited area. Some of the theatrical forms were related to different Hindu gods, others to Buddhism or to Muslim saints and legendary heroes whereas other forms were of a secular character. The traditional theatrical forms of Bangladesh may be divided into different genres, narrative forms being the most common. But there were also dialogue-based forms, genres characterised by the predominance of dance and songs, and also forms containing elements from different genres. The narrative and dialogue forms might be based on prose, verse or lyric. The text could be either oral, as was often the case, or written. Common to most traditional forms is that visual elements are virtually lacking .The performance space was usually temporary. The traditional forms were partly practised by professional troupes, partly by gifted people in their spare time. The performances typically attracted a broad audience people from different strata of the social hierarchy, old and young, men and women. The traditional theatrical forms were folk forms in a real sense.

In contrast, the urban theatre in Bangladesh has focused on the Western drama. This has in fact been the focus of urban theatre in the entire Bengal since the early period of British colonial rule. Practitioners of urban theatre have tended to consider traditional theatrical forms as backward and inferior. The audience has mainly been drawn from the upper and middle classes of society. The focus on Western drama by the urban theatre practitioners combined with legal provisions imposing restrictions on traditional theatrical performances and ways of life-more recently also competition from alternative forms of entertainment caused the traditional theatrical forms gradually to lose their importance, and most of them have now to a large extent been forgotten .

The story about Bhelua Sundari is found in an old ballad from the eastern part of what is now Bangladesh and is assumed to have originated in the16th century. It is included in an early 20th century collection of ballads from Bengal known as Purbobango Gitika. CAT has adapted the ballad with the aim of giving it a theatrical presentation. The traditional form called palagan (literally song play), one of the many secular indigenous forms, is the basis for CAT's theatre production Bhelua Sundari. A traditional palagan starts with a pre-performance ritual (bandana) which also can be seen in Bhelua Sundari. As is typical for Bengali folk plays in general, palagan consists of several episodes, each episode being a complete and well-defined story within the overall frame of the play. This structure has been maintained in the CAT production. However, in order to make the production more attractive to the audience of today, CAT has blended palagan with elements of other traditional forms as well as with modern techniques. Moreover, whereas a palagan performance traditionally lasted for at least four hours, the duration of the performance has been made shorter to suit the present-day audience.

Palagan is a narrative form centring around one person (the narrator) who portrays numerous characters and who is supported only by the musicians/chorus. In the CAT production, this monotony is broken by using co-actors to support the narrator although the focus is still on the latter. The narrator still portrays numerous characters, male as well as female, and he is changing from one character to another by rearranging the costume. In contrast to traditional palagan where both the narrator and the musicians / chorus are male, there are both male and female performers in Bhelua Sundari. Although the basic presentation form of Bhelua Sundari is narrative, the introduction of co-actors has made it possible to blend the narrative form of palagan with elements of dialogue. The dialogue pattern has been taken from another traditional theatrical form called jatra which is characterised by exaggeration and high-pitch speech. The folk form of the music has been maintained although it has been given a touch of modern style by making it a bit faster and more rhythmic.


Synopsis

Bhelua Sundari

(A play based on Ballad of East Bengal)

Bhelua Sundari is an experimental theatre. It presents love stories regarding Ballad of East Bengal.

Merchant Amir, the protagonist of the play goes out of home for hunting. On his way he killed a Hiruni Pigeon. The pigeon was belonged to Bhelua, only sister of eight siblings. In charge of killing the pigeon, seven brothers detained merchant Amir. In the meantime, they could know that the merchant is their cousin (khalato bhai). Amir's mother and Bhelua's mother once promise to let Amir and Bhelua to tie their knot through marriage. Following the commitment, Amir and Bhelua got married.

Amir along with his new wife returned back to his home. But his sister Bibola was not happy with it. Once, Amir went out for his merchandising purposes for long. By this chance, Bibola made Bhelua a slave of Amir's home. Once Bhelua went for bring water from river and a merchant Bhola kidnapped her. Amir returned back from his business tour. He could see Bhelua was not available there. Then in the guise of a beggar he began to search for Bhelua. Once, he could find out Bhelua at Bhola's residence

After detention in Bhola's house, Bhelua lost her health due to mental unrest and hunger. She did not allow Bhloa to touch her or dishonour in a form. She began to hunger strike. Thus she dismissed her life. Amir rescued Bhelua from Bhola's house by all his means. But Bhelua is now no more alive.