‘Court Martial’, which has been adapted from the Marathi playwright Sawdesh Dipak’s play with the same title and drama by late theater icon SM Solaiman, depicts the dilemmas of the offspring of the Biranganas and the assimilation of the children of the Pakistani collaborators into the society after the Liberation War.
The play showcases the fact that man cannot hold back the inherent jealousy and cruelty through staging of an imaginary court martial.
About ‘Court Martial’, Mohammad Bari, who oversees the directorial aspects of the play, said, “In the history of Bangladeshi theater, ‘Court Martial’ is definitely a notable production which earned much acclaim as an anti-war production and introduced the theater-lovers with some new concepts of theater.”
“It is indeed a master-work by SM Solaiman, a pioneering theater personality. In the play, Solaiman, himself, used to play the role of Major Mahmud. After his demise in 2001, the play took a pause of two and half-years,” he added.
Bari said, “In my supervision, ‘Court Martial’ rolled on the stage with a few changes as a revised production in 2003. Keeping the storyline intact, I added nine more characters in it and a few changes in set-designing. Since then on, Theater Art Unit has been staging the play as its regular production.”
The play confronts the audience with a question: is it possible for human beings to avoid inherent jealousy or cruelty? In ‘Court Martial’, the playwright has tried to find out the truth from the most disciplined institution of a nation, the army.
The play, which reminds us of late theater icon SM Solaiman’s work, still has a place in the hearts of the theater-lovers though premiered in 1993.
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