To get a first hand view of the children's theatre movement in Bangladesh, a five-member Chinese theatre team visited the country recently.

The team was led by Wang Ling, secretary general, Chinese Theatre Association and Chinese Centre for ITI. Other members of the team were Zhao Yin Bang, Wang Chun Yan, Liu Yu Qing and Shi Hui -- each an expert in various forms of Chinese theatre.

The trip was part of a theatre exchange programme under the 'Children's Voice Project'. The event was hosted by Rakhal.

In honour of the visiting theatre delegation, Rakhal organised a theatre performance at Studio Theatre, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on October 28.

Three troupes -- People's Little Theatre, People's Repertory Theatre and Pragati Shikkha Academy -- staged plays in the course of the programme.

The first play staged was "Sorry", by People's Little Theatre. Written by Dev Shankar Haldar, the play revolves around a boy. Being the only child of his parents, the boy's every demand is fullfilled. One day the boy gets embroiled in an argument with his mother. His angry mother slaps him and the young boy runs away from home, to find a “better” mother. When he realises his mistake, he decides to return home. On his way back, he gets lost in the forest, where he encounters a magical horse and a sorcerer. With their help he eventually finds his way home. On his return, the repentant boy says “sorry” to his mother. Liaquat Ali Lucky is the director of the play.

People's Repertory Theatre's play "Obak Jol Pan", featured adult actors as members of the cast. “The performance of the adults can be a learning experience for the young actors," said Lucky, director of the play and general secretary, People's Theatre Association.

Based on a literary work by Sukumar Roy, the humorous play hinges on a village and a lonely traveller who arrives there in search of water -- only to discover that the simpleminded inhabitants understand everything except his request for water. In the final scene, the traveller ends up at a scientist's home where, again, he asks for water. The scientist brings a pot of water and starts informing him about the chemical composition of water instead of giving him any to drink.

The last play of the day was "Bahadur Chhele", staged by Pragati Shikkha Academy . The play's scriptwriter and director is Dr Tapash Das.

"In Chinese theatre we often have adults acting as children, but it is far more entertaining to see plays where children enact their own roles,” said Wang Ling.

"Today in China the theatre scenario is not encouraging. With the rise of internet, video games and other sources of entertainment, the younger generation is fast losing its interest in theatre.

"One of the main reasons for the loss of interest in theatre in China is that youngsters are unaware of what theatre is. If they were introduced to theatre at an early age, things would have been different," added Ling.

"In Bangladesh it is heartening to see the progress of children's theatre and the active cultural scenario here," he said.

Prior to the performance, the delegation went to Tongi to see a street play by the children of the bede (gypsy) community. The young ones staged the play "Din Bodoler Pala" on the banks of river Turag. The play depicted the challenges that confront the community and the often-inhuman conditions under which the bede community lives.