FROM PAGE 12

A lifetime member and founding pillar of Nagorik Natya Sampradaya, Ataur Rahman stood at the very core of Bangladesh’s post-independence theatre movement. More than a director or performer, he was widely seen as an integral force in building the grammar and discipline of modern Bangladeshi theatre.

His journey in theatre began in the late 1960s, when he helped establish Nagorik Natya Sampradaya in 1968—one of the country’s most influential theatre troupes. From its earliest years, the group became a platform for his artistic vision, blending classical discipline with contemporary sensibility.

Over time, Ataur Rahman emerged as a leading theatre director, earning acclaim for his interpretations of major works from both Western and South Asian literary traditions. His directorial repertoire included adaptations of plays by William Shakespeare, Rabindranath Tagore, Samuel Beckett, Syed Shamsul Haque, Sayeed Ahmed, and others—works he approached with a distinctive balance of restraint, clarity, and intellectual depth.

His mortal remains were kept at the Central Shaheed Minar from 3 pm to 4 pm on Monday (May 12), where people from all walks of life gathered to pay their final respects. He was later laid to rest at Banani Graveyard.

Born on June 18, 1941, in Noakhali, Ataur Rahman’s life reflected a rare devotion to the stage. A postgraduate in Soil Science from the University of Dhaka, he ultimately chose theatre as his life’s calling, going on to become a playwright, actor, director, and author who remained deeply embedded in Bangladesh’s cultural landscape for decades.

Through his long career, he played a central role in shaping the country’s group theatre movement, both as an artiste and an institution-builder.

He also held important institutional roles, serving as secretary general of the Bangladesh Centre of the International Theatre Institute and as former chairman of the Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation, further strengthening the country’s theatre infrastructure.

In recognition of his contribution to arts and culture, he received the Ekushey Padak in 2001 and the Independence Award in 2021, the highest civilian honour of the state.

With his passing, Bangladesh loses not only a master of stagecraft but also one of its foundational theatre thinkers—an artiste whose work helped define how generations would see, feel, and understand theatre.