The 10-day-long6th Dhaka University Central Theatre Festival ended on January 31 with the staging of an adaptation of Samuel Beckett's “Waiting for Godot”. The concluding ceremony and the show were held at the TSC Auditorium on DU campus.

Organised by the Department of Theatre, DU, the festival featured plays directed by the final year students, as well as indigenous theatre forms demonstrated by invited troupes from outside Dhaka.

Professor A.K. Azad Chowdhury,

Commission (UGC), was the chief guest at the closing ceremony. Among others, Professor A.A.M.S. Arefin Siddique, Vice Chancellor, Dhaka University; Liaquat Ali Lucky, chairman, Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation; litterateur Hasan Azizul Haque and Rahmat Ali, chairman, Department of Theatre, spoke at the programme.

In his speech, the UGC chairman praised the organisers and expressed the hope that the arrangement would continue in the future.

The adaptation of the Beckett play — “Godor Opekkhay” — was translated by Professor Kabir Chowdhury. The play was directed by Khan Mohammad Rafiqul Islam.

The play is considered the most notable work of Samuel Beckett. It has achieved the status of a "theatrically absurd” play in which nothing happens, and yet keeps the audiences glued to their seats.

The play zooms in on two vagabonds —Vladimir and Estragon. Every afternoon under a tree, they wait for Godot, whom they are supposed to meet. Time goes by and Godot never shows up. The vagabonds' routine is broken one day when Pozza and Lucky, a master and his slave, appear on the scene.

The 10-day festival, an annual endeavour by the department, also featured indigenous theatre forms such as Muharram-er Jari and Alkap. The students demonstrated folk forms through their performances in “Komola Ranir Sagordighi”, “Nokshi Kanthar Matth” and “Bhanumotir Pala”.

Western plays such as “A Slight Ache”, "Genius and Culture" and "The Other Shore” enthralled the audience, most of who are students.

Apart from TSC Auditorium, plays were also staged at the Natmandal. The festival was inaugurated on January 22.