| Prachyanat | |
| Full Name: | Prachyanat - প্রাচ্যনাট |
| Type: | Theatre |
| Founded Date: | 1997 |
| Founder: | Azad Abul Kalam |
| Location: | Kataban, Dhaka |
| Area Served: | Worldwide |
| Product: | Promote knowledge of Art and culture through performance. |
| Headquarters: | 278/3, Kataban Dhal, New Elephant Road, Dhaka 1205. (Beside Ashta Byanjan Hotel) |
| Website: | https://prachyanat.com |
Prachyanat is a theatre group of Bangladesh founded in 1997.[1]
In the last twenty five years Prachyanat had fifteen full length productions. Among these, two plays are written by the members of Prachyanat. One play of Prachyanat is a translated version of A Man for All Seasons, by the British playwright Robert Bolt.[2] Another play of Prachyanat is "Gondar" (The Rhinoceros) from playwright Eugene Ionesco.[3] In 2009 Prachyanat brought out a modernist version of Rabindranath’s symbolic play Raja ebong Onnanno.[4] In 2009, Ibsen’s play "Punarjonmo" was made.[5] Another is "The Hairy Ape", which is written by Eugene O'Neill and directed by Barker Bakul.[6] Koinna, a play which is directed by Azad Abul Kalam, Murad Khan's script is based on a myth from the north-west of Bangladesh about ‘Koinnapir’.[7] A play titled "Kinu Kaharer Thetar" is performed which is written by Manoj Mitra and directed by Kaji Taufiqul Islam Imon.[8] In 2010, Prachyanat staged titled "Mayer Mukh", a translation of Arnold Wesker’s play.[9] In the year of 2014, Prachyanat produced a play titled "Tragedy of Polashbari", script and directed by Azad Abul Kalam.[10]
Prachyanat has a strong musical team. Prachyanat Musical Ensemble is a group with a fluid membership, mostly theatre performers with musical abilities rather than professional musicians. Its first performance was in 2002.[11] It specializes in the folk music of Bangladesh and West Bengal, and also renders popular songs from Prachyanat's plays, such as "Matitey Milay Matir Manush" from A Man for All Seasons, and others from Circus Circus and Koinya.[12] [13]
The musical ensemble took their production Phul, Phaki O Nodi'r Gaan (Music of the flowers, birds and rivers) on tour to Kathmandu, Nepal. The five-day tour in July 2009 was at the invitation of the out-going Bangladeshi Ambassador, Imtiaz Ahmed. Pieces performed included Shah Abdul Karim's song "Jhilmil jhilmil" as well as new compositions. According to a review in The Himalayan Times, "most of the numbers had an ethnic folk touch and the musicians played traditional as well as modern instruments".[14]