Mohsina Akhter

When selecting a play, we always decide by considering the message of the play. The topic of this play was depression, and we felt that it was an important topic. We actually selected this before the COVID-19 pandemic happened, and it was around the end of 2019, when we were looking for a new play after Jibon O Rajnoitik Bastobota. Jamil sir came to us and told us to read this and check the story out. Upon reading, we realised that the mental health issues this play portrays, we feel hesitant to talk about them. Even though we can relate to those feelings of anxiety or depression, we cannot express them to people. We knew that there was a stigma regarding this topic, and that we needed to stop it. We knew that this was an important topic to work on, so we picked this play. However, I was a little worried when we were doing it. I knew that when doing a project on a topic like mental illness, it can affect you, especially in my case since I have had times when I felt extremely anxious. When I did this, I made sure to do method acting as that would help me differentiate from reality and acting. If an actor cannot differentiate from what is acting and what is reality, they might end up harming themselves or someone else. But, that does not usually happen as actors know how to draw the line there. One thing that I like to do when acting is to connect my emotions with the characters, so when doing this role, people around me noticed how my emotions were darker than they usually are. I must also add that we actually planned out the final play during the last twenty days. We all acted and rehearsed and tried to find a perfect way to make it seem relatable to those watching. Our audiences look for a story when looking at a play, so we needed to make sure it is relatable, otherwise the message would not go through. And even for me personally, this was a very heavy role, and I know that it will take me a while to get over it. When it comes to the topic of professional theatre, I think that without doing it, it is not possible to make plays which are of very high quality. I agree with Jamil sir that one day, it will be possible to do professional theatre in this country. Lastly, I want to thank the audiences for coming to see our play, 4.48 Montrash. Without their support, we would never have been able to be here today.