Editorial
Drama rehearsal spots gets scarcer
Create some new facilities
A recent city page report in our paper has revealed that many of the traditional, affordable and convenient spots for drama rehearsals are gradually becoming inaccessible to the users. Notably the one or two rooms that were open to rehearsal by various groups, particularly at the Eskaton Garden High School and the Motijheel High School, became unavailable to them since the change of government in 2001. As many as 30 theatre groups, both old and budding ones, had been using the premises for the last 20 years. This was being done on mutually agreed terms with the rehearsals taking place during evening hours preceded by school activities up to the afternoon hours. To add to the overall paucity of space, only the other day, the Mirpur Town Hall which was a central place for staging shows and holding rehearsals after being in a bad shape for long has finally been bulldozed by DCC and that too reportedly at the behest of some influential people to make way for a 20-storied commercial complex.
Not only that, we find it appalling that even the Mahnagar Natyashala constructed by DCC itself has not been spared. Theatre lovers have expressed shock at the shrinking space for drama and theatre.
Stage acting and theatre are undoubtedly one of the major windows of our excellence, perhaps the leading one, in the social sector. Many of the theatre groups have not only brought laurels for themselves and the country but also served as effective vehicles projecting and spreading the unique cultural heritage of Bangladesh. Besides, over the years, stage theatre has turned itself into a voice of sanity sending strong messages of awareness against social evils.
We urge the culture ministry and the DCC to come forward and do all they can to afford space for the promotion of the powerful art of theatre.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments