The weeklong theatre festival arranged by The Daily Star and Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation (BGTF) ended on January 31. On the last day, Loko Natyadal (Siddheswari), Theatre and Sanglaap Group Theatre staged "Majh Rater Manushera”, “Meraj Fakirer Ma” and "Badnam” respectively at the National Theatre Hall, Experimental Theatre Hall and Studio Theatre Hall.

The weeklong festival, which was arranged to mark the 40th anniversary of Independence, 30th anniversary of BGTF and 20th anniversary of The Daily Star, featured 21 plays by as many troupes.

"Meraj Fakirer Ma” addresses religious bigotry and how the misinterpretation of values affects the society. The play was written by Abdullah Al Mamun.

The protagonist is Meraj Fakir (played by Tofa Hossain). He is one of the main clerics in

Polashpur village. Meraj dreams of a Muslim state and holds a deep resentment towards the non-Muslims. His world comes crashing down when one day it is revealed that his parents eloped 39 years ago and his mother Alo Bibi (played by Ferdousi Majumder) happened to come from a Hindu family.

The cast also includes Ramendu Majumder, Tropa Majumder, Khurshid Alam and Tamanna Islam.

Sanglaap Theatre's "Badnam” is an adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore's story with the same title. Mostafa Heera has dramatised and directed the play. The play zooms in on dialectical behaviour and significantly highlights different aspects ofwomanhood.

The cast includes Monalisa, Lucky, Babu, Monk, Jewel, Habib andKhokon.

Loko Natyadal's "Majh Rater Manushera” is an adaptation of the Chinese play “Nocturnal

Wanderer” by Gao Xingjian. In the original play, a character named Sleepwalker battles his nightmare. In the Bangladeshi version, the play narrates the contemporary social milieu through the charac-ter’sview.

Liaquat Ali Lucky directed the play. Swadesh Ranjan Das, Zebunnesa Sobhan, Ziauddin Shipon and Azizur Rahman enacted lead characters in the play. Arif Sharif is the set designer of the play.