Jolbalika: Bringing the village to the stage
Fayza Haq
Jolbalika by Padatik, written by Masum Reza and directed by Shamsul Alam Bokul, focuses on rural Bangladesh. The play depicts the joys and sorrows of the rural people where the upper classes do not compromise with the lower ones in times of crises. The play also lays emphasis on the gender issue where a male child is given priority over a female one. When a storm faces Joy Baul, one of the main characters, it is his son that he saves from the waves rather than his daughter. Ghonoshyam, a mental patient, loved by the entire village, saves everyone but is himself bitten by a snake. An element of romance is brought in by the relationship between Chandbodon, the son of the village head, and Chumkibegum, Joy Baul's sister.For 27 years the group has focused on village-based plots, although they have done other plays too such as Maxim Gorky's Mother, Manasher Pala, Teen Rustomer Goppo, Shojonbaddhiyar Ghat and Chandraboli. Nurur Rahman Bachchu, assistant director, talking about the problems that confronted the group, said that that though the theme was village- based, some of the actors had never seen a village. 'To recreate the ambience of rural life was not easy,' Nurur Rahman said. Towards the latter half of the rehearsal, the members were compelled to practice for many hours every day. It was again not easy to bring the young ones on par with the mature actors, said Nurur. There are also the hard decisions that the characters have to take. These inner conflicts heighten the element of tension in the play such as when Joy Baul has to choose between his son and his daughter. Shamsul Alam Bokul, the director, said that he had to deal with the same handful of actors. As a consequence, he had no choice but to compromise in his selection of the same limited characters. 'It was a big challenge for me. I have not dealt with this theme before. I have done work on the Liberation Movement and translated Shakespeare plays. For this work I had to do research on my own on boat races and songs that accompany them,' he said. Nasiruddin Sheikh, the music director, had to be careful about providing the tunes for the songs. He said that he had to keep the traditional songs in mind while catering for this play. 'The songs we've used are folk songs but they are not common,' Nasiruddin said. Sabil Reza Chowdhury, who acted as Ghonoshyam, said he had acted in Shojonbaddhiyar Ghat, Khetmojur Khoimuddin and others. He said that he worked all evening on the play after a long day's work as a banker. Nilmoni Aich, a teacher of English, said he acted as Joy Baul and this role was different from the ones he had done before in plays such as Shojonbaddhiyar Ghat. Farouk Prodhan acted as Gunin, the character who prophesies that flood waters will overwhelm the village. He had played a larger role in Khetmojur Khoimuddin. For Rokhsana Akhter, a student of class eight, this was her first play. She got all the family support as her father was also in the play. For viewers, accustomed to theatre based on urban settings, Jolbalika, with its rural ambience, will prove a draw. Jolbalika will be staged tomorrow (December19) at the Experimental Theatre Stage, Shilpakala.
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A sequence from Jolbalika |
