Syed Badruddin Hossain theatre festival to honour Abul Hayat and late Mannan Hira this year

To mark the 101st birth anniversary of the late Syed Badruddin Hossain, an eminent educationist, a language movement veteran, and lifetime chairman of Padatik Nattya Sangsad (TSC), a four-day long theatre festival titled "Syed Badruddin Hossain Smrity Natyautsab o Smarak Sammanona 2024" is set to take place at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) on May 16. This theatre festival has been orchestrated annually since 2010. 

This information was confirmed during a press briefing held on Tuesday afternoon in the Bangladesh Academy of Fine Arts seminar chamber. Additionally, it has been announced that this year's Smarak Sammanona recipients in theatre are Abul Hayat and the late Mannan Hira. 

The inauguration of the theatre festival will be graced by State Minister for Cultural Affairs Naheed Ezaher Khan, who will ceremoniously light the lamp in the foyer of the main hall of the National Theater at 5pm on May 16. 

Distinguished playwright M Hamid, Mamunur Rashid, and director general of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Liaquat Ali Lucky will attend as special guests. Tasnin Hossain Tanu, the president of the party, will oversee the event as presiding authority.

The event will feature the participation of eight theatre troupes from Bangladesh and India, including the host Padatik Nattya Sangsad (TSC), Nagorik Natya Sampradaya, Aranyak Natyadal, Theater Art Unit, Department of Drama and Dramatics-Jahangirnagar University, Batighar, Nabaras, Khokon Bayati, and his team, and Sajatashpur Rajasthan from Kolkata, India. These troupes will present two plays each in the main hall, experimental hall, and studio theatre hall of the National Theater.

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In addition to plays, the festival will feature cultural programmes every evening from 5pm to 6:30pm at the premises of the National Theatre Hall. The festival will conclude on May 19.

Padatik Nattya Sangsad has been bestowing awards to esteemed individuals, over the span of 15 years, for their contributions to the advancement of theatre arts and their involvement in the group theatre movement in post-independence Bangladesh. 

Recipients of this honour thus far include luminaries such as playwright Mamunur Rashid, Begum Shimul Yousuf, Md Hamid, Begum Ferdousi Mazumder, Ramendu Majumdar, Nasir Uddin Yousuff, Ataur Rahman, Keramat Mawla, Aly Zaker, and many others.