Swapnadal to honour Shimul Yousuf

Theatre group Swapnadal is set to honour theatre veteran Shimul Yousuf, to mark the International Women's Day. The programme, at the Studio Theatre Hall of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on March 8, will also see the troupe stage their play "Chitrangada", a lyrical play version of the dance-drama written by Rabindranath Tagore. 

Tagore originally wrote Chitrangada based on a story of the Mahabharat, as a lyrical play in 1892, and then wrote a dance-drama on the same storyline in 1936. Although the dance-drama has been staged countless times by various troupes, the lyrical play -- considered by many to be too intricate for a stage act and more reading-oriented, has not seen many instances of staging.

Swapnadal has been celebrating the International Women's Day since 2012, through honouring eminent women theatre activists. They accorded the honours to Nuna Afroz in 2012, Lucky Inam in 2013 and Ferdausi Majumdar in 2014.