Selim Al Deen festivals begin at Shilpakala Academy

Marking the 69th birth anniversary of Natyacharya Selim Al Deen, two separate festivals began on the premises of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) in the capital on Friday, says UNB.

Two theatre troops--Dhaka Theater and Swapnadal--separately organised the events marking the birth anniversary of the veteran artisan.

As a part of the celebration, Swapnadal organised a discussion event on Friday at the Studio Theatre Hall of BSA while theatre personality Ataur Rahman was present as chief guest.

Director general of National Institute of Mass Communication Mohammad Rafiquzzaman and Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation secretary general Kamal Bayazid were present as special guests while Swapnadal general secretary Zahid Ripon delivered the welcome speech at the event.

Later, Swapnadal staged a special show of its anti-war production 'Tringsha Shatabdee' at 7:00pm at the same venue.

The story of 'Tringsha Shatabdi', adapted and directed by Zahid Repon, is based on the destruction of the two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which lead to the surrender of Japan and was meant to be the end of the war.

As a part of the two-day festival, Dhaka Theatre which was founded by the theatre personality in 1973, presented a discussion titled 'Selim Al Deen Memorial Lecture' at the seminar room of the National Theatre Hall of BSA.

Alongside, the theatre organisation staged its much-acclaimed play 'Dhaboman' in the evening at the National Theatre Hall on the same day. 'Dhaboman' was written by Selim Al Deen and directed by Shimul Yousuf.

On the second day of the festival, artists of Dhaka Theatre and Swapnadal will place floral wreaths on the graveyard of the playwright at Jahangirnagar University on 18 August.

Selim Al Deen, known as 'Natyacharya', was born on 18 August 1949, in Feni, and joined Jahangirnagar University in 1974 as a faculty in Bangla department.

'Shop Bishoyok Golpo' (Story about Snakes) was staged in the theatre in 1972 as his first play.

The prominent director passed away on 14 January in 2008.