Loko Natyadal staged ‘Konjush’

Loko Natyadal staged their highly praiseworthy theatre production 'Konjush' at the National Theatre Hall, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy at 7pm yesterday, July 30. This was their 679th show of 'Konjush'.

Based on playwright Molière's world famous satirical comedy, 'The Miser', 'Konjush' has been adapted and dramatised by Tariq Anam Khan and directed by Liaquat Ali Lucky. The play is the most staged play in Bangladesh.  Through situational satire, humour and crude slapstick, 'Konjush' weaves the story of two families living in Old Dhaka. The story of miser Haider Ali brings out some hidden negative tendencies of the elite people in a comic way. To make the play enjoyable, Tariq Anam used the typical Dhakaia dialect (a mixture of Bangla and Urdu).

The story of the play goes forward sketching a sixty-year-old, very miserly person, Haider Ali. He does not wish to spend even for his own son Kazim and daughter Laili. He has a big amount of money hidden in a pot in his garden. Kazim is in love with neighbour Marjina, while Laili has a relationship with Bodiuzzaman, son of Haider's friend Aslam Beg. The plot of the play comes to a climax when Haider Ali himself plans to marry Marjina. Meanwhile, another dramatic situation creates when Haider Ali's hidden money gets stolen and the blame is falsely put on Bodiuzzaman by Kala Mia, the cook and rickshaw-puller of Haider. In the course of events, Haider Ali yields to his children's choice only when Aslam Beg agrees to pay all the expenditure of the marriages.  About the 679th show of 'Konjush', one of the main actor Ajijur Rahman Sujon said, "Liaquat Ali Lucky's directed play 'Kunjosh' has been staged in the country and abroad for a long time. I am lucky that I got the opportunity to act on this play."