Prachyanat

In the last twenty five years Prachyanat had fifteen full length productions. Among these, two plays are written by the members of Prachyanat. One play of Prachyanat is a translated version of A Man for All Seasons, by the British playwright Robert Bolt.^[2] Another play of Prachyanat is "Gondar" (The Rhinoceros) from playwright Eugene Ionesco.^[3] In 2009 Prachyanat brought out a modernist version of Rabindranath’s symbolic play Raja ebong Onnanno.^[4] In 2009, Ibsen’s play "Punarjonmo" was made.^[5] Another is "The Hairy Ape", which is written by Eugene O'Neill and directed by Barker Bakul.^[6] Koinna, a play which is directed by Azad Abul Kalam, Murad Khan's script is based on a myth from the north-west of Bangladesh about ‘Koinnapir’.^[7] A play titled "Kinu Kaharer Thetar" is performed which is written by Manoj Mitra and directed by Kaji Taufiqul Islam Imon.^[8] In 2010, Prachyanat staged titled "Mayer Mukh", a translation of Arnold Wesker’s play.^[9] In the year of 2014, Prachyanat produced a play titled "Tragedy of Polashbari", script and directed by Azad Abul Kalam.^[10]

Prachyanat has a strong musical team. Prachyanat Musical Ensemble is a group with a fluid membership, mostly theatre performers with musical abilities rather than professional musicians. Its first performance was in 2002.^[11] It specializes in the folk music of Bangladesh and West Bengal, and also renders popular songs from Prachyanat's plays, such as "Matitey Milay Matir Manush" from A Man for All Seasons, and others from Circus Circus and Koinya.^[12][13]

The musical ensemble took their production Phul, Phaki O Nodi'r Gaan (Music of the flowers, birds and rivers) on tour to Kathmandu, Nepal. The five-day tour in July 2009 was at the invitation of the out-going Bangladeshi Ambassador, Imtiaz Ahmed. Pieces performed included Shah Abdul Karim's song "Jhilmil jhilmil" as well as new compositions. According to a review in The Himalayan Times, "most of the numbers had an ethnic folk touch and the musicians played traditional as well as modern instruments".^[12][14]