A scene from Hargoj.— Snigdha Zaman

Swapnadal’s six-day theatre festival attracted huge number of audiences on its second day on Thursday at the Experimental Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.
The hall was about eighty percent full with enthusiastic theater lovers who gathered at the academy despite Ramadan to watch Hargoj, an acclaimed production by Swapnadal, written and directed respectively by Selim Al-Deen and Zahid Repon.  
The play is based on a true story from 1989 about a village named Hargoj in Manikganj after a cyclone swept across the area. The experiences of the relief activists in the village are depicted through the theatre.  The play becomes lively with soulful performance of the artistes and successful utilisation of the props like wrecked tree branches and torn clothes depicting the post cyclone devastation. Besides, relevant sound effects and solemn songs at the theatre touch the hearts of the audiences.
About the play, Marittunjoy Kumar Banik, a college teacher from Motijheel, told New Age, ‘I am a great fan of theatre. The performance by Swapnadal was good enough to hold on constant audience attention.’
On the other hand, Saifuddin Ahmed, who is a masters’ student, observed, ‘The performance was overall good except performances of some artistes.’ 
Earlier, a combination of some selected parts of Selim Ali-Deen’s another much-admired production Swarnabowal was staged at lobby of the theatre hall in the afternoon. The play depicts the consequence of addiction through portrayal of a fisherman and a mythical fish.
Swapnadal has organised the festival marking the troupe’s 12 years of theatre practice. The festival features plays by Rabindranath Tagore, Selim Al-Deen and Badal Sircer as the troupe also celebrates Tagore’s 71st death anniversary, which falls on August 6; Selim Al Deen’s 63rd birth anniversary, which falls on August 18, and Badal Sircar’s 87th birth anniversary, which was celebrated on July 15. The festival also observes the Hiroshima and Nagasaki days.  Swapnadal has dedicated this year’s of festival in memory of recently demised eminent author Humayun Ahmed.