BotTala to stage ‘Khona’ today

Theatre troupe BotTala will stage the 84th show of its most acclaimed production ‘Khona’ today at 7 pm at Experimental Theatre Hall of the Bangladesh Shilpakal Academy (BSA), Segun Bagicha in the capital.

The play has been directed by Mohammad Ali Haider and has been written by Samina Lutfa Nitra.

The story of the play is based on the popular mythological character of Bangla folklore Khona, whose sayings have been passed down from generation to generation as a part of tradition among educated and amateurish farmers.

In the play, Mihir, an astrologer, is disowned by his father as he makes a grave astrological miscalculation. His father Varaha is a royal astrologer of Dharmaketu. Lila, born in Lanka and the wife of Mihir, is an astrologer in her own right. She reunites the father and the son. Lila and Mihir then are introduced to the royal court and eventually they both join as royal astrologers. Being a royal astrologer, Lila feels that farmers of Deyulnagar have high prospects in agriculture. She gathers knowledge and spreads her findings among the farmers in the form of rhymes. Seeing the popularity of Lila among the commoners, Varaha becomes jealous. He claims Lila’s work as his without her knowledge. When she retaliates, Varaha orders Mihir to cut Lila’s tongue off to save his honour. Hence, Lila, the astrologer, comes to be known as Khona who cannot speak.