A Season of Bangla Drama – preview
Scene from Ayndrilla Singharay’s Unsung
Now in its eleventh year, Tower Hamlets Council presents A Season of Bangla Drama, a vibrant celebration of local Bengali talent.
Taking place throughout November the festival includes an array of drama and discussion performed at a variety of venues across Spitalfields and Bethnal Green, continuing its relevance to residents of Tower Hamlet today.
The programme combines long-established aspects of Bengali tradition with innovative productions exploring recent developments in the culture, continuing with its deliverance of social history.
Drawing inspiration from the literary tales of Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, a number of the performances bring to life issues that still resonate through society decades after having first been written.
As part of the festival Wilton’s Music Hall will be featuring “Unsung”, a performance inspired by one of Tagore’s most haunting short stories. Bringing the story into the contemporary space of modern day London it tells the tale of two brothers and their wives and the horrific events that take place within their family unit, exploring issues of female oppression in society that still remain topical to this day.
Francis Mayhew, Artistic Director at Wilton’s said: “A Season of Bangla Drama, presented by Tower Hamlets Council, is a growing artistic success story and we are really delighted to be supporting the next generation of new artists and new work.”
The hall will also host a performance from Komola Collective that provides an insight into the events that unfolded during the 1971 war of independence struck Bangladesh. The war displaced over 30 million people and saw large-scale atrocities occur, and “Birangona: Women of War” displays such crimes against women through the story of one woman and her family.
The festival aims to entertain its audiences while facilitating discussion on hard-hitting topics that often go untold.
A Season of Bangla Drama is on at multiple locations throughout East London from 2nd – 24th November. Prices and times vary.