Eyes shut tight, you relax your muscles and let your body go limp. Ignoring the everyday accumulation of the nitty-gritty inconveniences in life, smoothening up the knotted tension cramped in your muscles and feeling absolutely free for probably the first time in your short-lived life, you let yourself fall from a height and fly. You feel yourself falling backwards, down and suddenly two pairs of arms catch hold of you, preventing you from falling on the ground and hurting yourself. You quickly come to your senses and open your eyes to find several young boys and girls clapping in delight and hooting encouragement. You smile at yourself for finally succeeding the 'Trust Game' that is just one of the many games played by the members of North South University Cine and Drama Club. “It's more than just a game,” says Monowar Kabir, one of the senior members of this club and also the Former President of NSUCDC. “It's one of several exercises that help us generate self-confidence, trust in our fellow members, energy from within and grow stronger in every aspect.”
North South University Cine and Drama Club (NSUCDC) goes back to the mid-nineties, when private education was still a new concept and North South University was being accepted by everyone in the country. At that time a group of students got together to create the culture club, which later on broke off and branched into two different student organisations, the North South University Sangskritik Sangathan (NSUSS) and the North South University Cine and Drama Club (NSUCDC).
Professor Abdus Selim, lecturer of the English department in NSU, has been the Faculty Adviser of this club ever since it began its journey in the university. A theatre enthusiast himself, Professor Selim is the current Vice President of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) and has always encouraged students to mingle in the world of theatre. He has also translated into Bangla, 19 works of famous playwrights from all around the world, which have been staged by many theatre groups in Dhaka.
Members of NSUCDC go through rigorous workout plans and trainings every semester. Besides putting up in-house productions, NSUCDC showcases their talent in the annual production, for which the members rehearse for at least four to six months to reach perfection. According to the current Executive Members of the club, NSUCDC has organised many programmes to attain their goal, which is creating a culture of practicing true artistry. The annual drama has given the club an opportunity to go beyond the boundaries and venture into the great world of theatre.
Though the club had begun functioning back in the mid-nineties, it was actually in 2001 when the trend of having an annual drama started. The club had staged Rabindranath Tagore's Tasher Desh under the direction of Ataur Rahman at the Engineer's Institute Auditorium. In 2002, NSUCDC stunned the audience along with a number of renowned personalities and theatre critics when they staged William Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew (Mukhora Romoni Boshikoron). It was directed by Dr. Israfil Shaheen of the Music and Drama department of Dhaka University and was staged at the National Museum Auditorium. The club wrote yet another accuess to its book in 2003, when Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, the longest running play in the world, was staged at the National Museum, translated by Professor Selim and directed by Dr. Shaheen. In 2004, NSUCDC presented Moliere's The Would-Be Gentleman, translated by Professor Selim and directed by Dr. Shaheen. In 2005, the club presented one of William Shakespeare's famous plays The Merchant of Venice, at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, once again translated into Bangla by Professor Selim and directed by Dr. Shaheen. Very recently, NSUCDC showcased Moliere's Scapin at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, directed by Dr. Shaheen. However, this time, the play was translated into Bangla by the members of NSUCDC.
Amongst these plays, Tasher Desh had been aired several times on ETV, the first ever private channel in Bangladesh. The Would-Be Gentleman was aired several times on Channel-i.
Dr. Israfil Shaheen has been playing a major role in shaping up the club and its members for the past few years. He is also teaching a theatre course (Liberal Arts 101) in North South University, which was started about two years ago.
The club has presented a number of in-house productions over the year as well. they started off with Moliere's Bidogho Romonikul, Syed Shamsul Haque's The Dead Peacock, Munier Chowdhury's Dondo, Syed Shamsul Haque's Payer Awaj Pawa Jai, Brief History of Time which was a jointly done by NSUCDC and Prachyonaat, Anton Chekov's Bibaho Brittanto, Bornomala by NSUCDC, Selina Hossain's Holdi Gaon '71, Ora Egaron Jon, an improvisation by NSUCDC, Narayan Gangyapadhay's To-Let, and Mohito Chatyapadhay's Shidhidata.
These plays are humorous, satirical and at times make fun of the absurd social systems that we tend to follow in blind faith. The very recent play, Scapin by Moliere poked fun at the habits and thoughts of the so-called people who define power in terms of money and dishonesty. “Moliere wrote the play and many similar plays centuries ago,” explains Professor Selim. “However, we can still relate the current situations and the happenings in our country with these plays. It just shows what a genius Moliere was, to have been working on the prejudice and hypocrisy lying deep within human nature and thus the society which never seems to change even after generations go by.”
It has often been enquired as to why NSUCDC never performed in English and rather showcase their plays in Bangla, in spite of being based in an institution where the medium of teaching and learning is English. According to the members of the club, showcasing the plays in Bangla caters to a wider range of audience, whereas English limits them to a very small group. “Besides,” explains one member. “We feel comfortable expressing ourselves in Bangla more than we do in English.”
Every year, students are recruited by NSUCDC who are then made to go through a workshop. The workshop is conducted by specialists from the theatre arena, mostly hailing from the Music and Drama Department of Dhaka University. Permanent members are then sorted out of these students who attend the workshop and appear for the final production at the end of the workshop. Besides comprehending theatre and acting, these final productions give the students a chance to learn how to work behind the stage, which is equally important as well. They acquire ideas in the many elements of theatre, namely, makeup, making props, costume, voice modulation and control, the art of facial expression and body movement and gestures and many more.
According to Professor Selim and Dr. Shaheen, many students actually have the natural flair for theatre, which unfortunately they do not practice later on. Many of them are now working in multinational companies or studying and working abroad, which seems to be the most natural step that students take right after completing their undergrad studies. “Most families also do not support the idea of continuing with theatre either,” the professors add. “Some of them do have aspirations within to work outside NSUCDC and possibly learn more about theatre, but they sacrifice these desires and do what is expected of them by their families.”
Bangladesh is supposedly a nation with a rich history, a country filled with colour, traditions and culture. However, even today, cultural elements like theatre, music, and dance seem to take a back seat in society. It won't be long when we lose these elements, not only in physical forms, but also completely from the human conscience. Therefore, it is our duty as the citizens of this country to uphold our traditions and culture and leave footprints for the coming generations.
Volume 1 Issue 1 | August 6, 2006 |
Copyright (R) thedailystar.net 2006
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