Themes of religious bigotry and extremism and traditional values were explored in a theatre production that was staged at the National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy yesterday.
Titled Urnajal (Spider's Web), the play was brought by leading theater troupe Batighar. Written and directed by Bakar Bokul, the main theme of the play is religious bigotry and extremism which taken place against the traditional values. The play shows how religion can be subjected to misinterpretation and used to the benefit of extremist outfits and people of dishonest intent.
The story was set in a village where people live harmoniously despite differences in their religious beliefs, interests and allegiances. But it all starts to change when an expat, Khaled, returns home and starts propagating extremism and militancy in the name of Islam and hatred against other belief-systems.
Kahled and his cohorts try to establish one particular style of living forcing others to follow suit.His hatred towards bauls and calling their lifestyle 'haram' (forbidden) shock and surprise many but at the same time win some hearts as well.
The play, by showing how such dogmatic elements misuse religion and destroy public peace, ends on a positive note with Khaled coming to realise his errors and respect people's diversity.
The cast of the play included Mukto Neel, Saddam Rahman, Sadia Yousuf, Firoz Munir, Shafin Ahmed,Sonjoy Halder, Shisir Sarker, Tazim Ahmed Saon, Sabrina Sharmin, Moniruzzaman and others.