Mahangar Natya Mancha going to waste

The Mahanagar Natya Mancha is a theatre with everything except plays. It is subject to neglect and mismanagement, for which theatre activists turn away. The undivided city corporation used to be in charge of it, and now it is under the Dhaka south city corporation. But the picture of its dirty, dull facade, which appeared in Prothom Aloyesterday, indicates that the city administration is not playing its part.

The city administration must explain why this theatre hall is being used for political and commercial programmes rather than plays and cultural shows. If this theatre stage is being used for other programmes, the cultural ministry must be informed. Fund allocation is not the only criteria to build a cultural centre. It calls for care by appropriate persons. The success of Shilpakala Academy magnifies the failure of the Natya Mancha. Has the city corporation done anything to attract the theatre community? If it needs to be modernised further, why is that not being done? In this concrete jungle of Dhaka, there is dire need of cultural respite.

There was no reason for Natya Mancha not to be a success. Bangabhaban in Gulistan, Maulana Bhasani national stadium and Mahanagar Natya Mancha are three points of a triangle. It is at the confluence of the old and new Dhaka, and is also near Dhaka University. Not only does it have a prime location, but its infrastructural and technical aspects were quite good. After it was established in 1997, it was further embellished with the Kazi Bashir auditorium, having excellent sound and lighting systems, costly seating arrangements, and more. But all of this is being wasted due to neglect and mismanagement.

Tagore had written that while there were qualified people in the world, there was a lack of a proper stage to expose them. We have a stage, but lack proper supervision and so the qualified lose out to the unqualified.