Artist, news presenter, model and actress Tashnuva Anan, who is now residing in USA, recently performed in her maiden English stage play "Shakuntala" in New York.
The play is adapted from the classic tale of the same name written by classical Sanskrit author Kalidasa, often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. It was brought to the stage by NY-based theatre group Dhaka Drama, and the play was staged at the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning in Queens, New York.
"Shakuntala is about the present situation of South Asian immigrant women who are facing a lot of abandonment issues. When I was working with a non-profit organisation, I saw the sorrow and suffering of immigrant women in front of my eyes, which motivated me to be a part of this play," Tashnuva said.
According to the organisers, the 70-minute play explores the themes of desertion and abandonment of South Asian women by their husbands in a foreign land and their home country, juxtaposed with the motif of abandonment as depicted in the classic mythological story Shakuntala written by Kalidasa.
Tashnuva saidm, "As I have to stay a couple of years for my treatment in the US, I decided to work as a theatre artist. My friend Premaa introduced me to Sarwar bhai who is the co-director of this play. I felt the character Shakuntala is the reversed version of the real-life Tashnuva.”
Written and directed by Golam Sarwar Harun and Gargi Mukherjee, the stage adaptation of the play included several other Bengali performers, namely Gargi, Ajaz Alam, Pratima Sumi, Basunia Suman, Md Kajal, Laila Farzana, Jaf Hossain, Abiba Imam Dyuti, and Dipro.
Tashnuva, the first transgender woman news presenter in Bangladesh, joined Boishakhi TV on the occasion of International Women's Day on 8 March last year.
An active member of the renowned theatre troupe BotTala, Tashnuva has been working for theatre since 2007.