Theatre Art Unit to stage ‘Amina Sundari’ today

Theatre Art Unit will stage its pala-based theatre production titled ‘Amina Sundari’ today at 7:15 pm at the Experimental Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Segun Bagicha in the capital.

The late SM Solaiman dramatised the play ‘Amina Sundari’ from a 300-year-old folktale from the Chittagong region, ‘Nachhar Malum O Bhelua Sundari’, periodically theatricalised by various hands since the 1960s.

The play is directed by Rokeya Rafique Baby which describes the heroine’s loyalty to her husband who sailed to Myanmar, where he deceptively remarries. After ten years of travel, Amina lands in the clutches of a merchant, into whose house her now destitute husband stumbles.

He recognises her, but the first thing he asks is about her chastity.

The three actresses performed the role of Amina brought out the feminist theme un-melodramatically, while the men behave like rank villains or fools. Even though the story is 300 years old, it’s still the persistent reality of almost all women and households in the male dominated society which made the play as the story of thousands of women, portrayed by three Aminas.

The probable casts of the play include Tania Chowdhury, Shimul Khan, Ferdous Amin Biplob, Sadia Safa, and Chandan Reza, among others.