Syed Badruddin Hossain memorial theatre festival opens today

The six-day “Syed Badruddin Hossain Smriti Natya-Utsab O Smarak Sammanona 2026” begins today at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, featuring six productions by six theatre troupes and honouring two distinguished contributors to the country’s theatre movement.

Organised by Padatik Natya Sangsad, the annual festival commemorates late theatre activist, language movement veteran, educationist and the troupe’s lifelong president Syed Badruddin Hossain. The event has been held regularly since 2010. 

This year’s Syed Badruddin Hossain Memorial Honour will be awarded to actor and educator Wahida Mallik Jolly and theatre personality Kamal Bayezid. The honours will be presented on the festival’s second day.

The festival opens today with Desh Natok’s production “Darpane Sharatshashi”, directed and supervised by Kamal Ahmed. The inauguration ceremony will begin at 6:30pm at the lobby of the National Theatre Hall, where veteran theatre personality Mamunur Rashid and politician Saiful Haque are expected to attend.

On June 26, Padatik Natya Sangsad will stage “Alibaba Ebong Chollish Chor”, conceived and directed by Dr Sudip Chakraborty. Theatre Factory will present “Komola Ronger Bodh” on June 27, followed by Ethic Natyadal’s “Surango” on June 28.

The programme on June 29 will feature “Jalaluddin Rumi” by Bangladesh Performance Art Group, written by Apurba Kumar Kundu and directed by Sujan Mahbub. The festival will conclude on June 30 with Jahangirnagar Theatre’s production “Bidhibam”. 

Alongside the evening performances, a daily outdoor programme titled “Bahirangan” will be held from 5:00pm to 6:30pm, featuring street theatre, recitation, music and dance performances.