Indigenous Theatre in Bangladesh

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Syed Jamil Ahmed (University of Dhaka)

Ed. by Niaz Zaman, Independent University Bangladesh
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 10.3.2: Pakistani and Bangladeshi Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Claire Gallien (Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3), Pavan Kumar Malreddy (J W Goethe University of Frankfurt), Delphine Munos (Université de Liège), Muneeza Shamsie (Independent Scholar - Asia), Niaz Zaman (Independent University Bangladesh)

Domains

Theatre

Dates

Date of occurrence c.500-

Places

Bangladesh (Location; Involved)

Imagine this. On a chilly winter night, you, along with a few hundred other people, are sitting around an āsar (performance space) made of a pavilion, no more than a 12-foot-square area, situated at the centre of a public space in a village in Bangladesh. At each of the four corners of the pavilion stand bamboo poles that support a ﬂat shade of date-palm leaves on top. Two gas pressure lamps burn at two bamboo posts diagonally across from one another. Illuminated thus, a group of eight male performers are presenting mādār pīrer gān, a form of indigenous performance of Bangladesh. The choral singer/orchestra are sitting in a tight circle at the centre, singing the refrain of a song. Around them the lead narrator a…

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5342 words

Citation: Ahmed, Syed Jamil. "Indigenous Theatre in Bangladesh". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 August 2020 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19585, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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Indigenous Theatre in Bangladesh

Domains

Dates

Places

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