THE IMPORTANCE OF THEATRE AND PERFORMANCE IN THE HISTORY AND FORMATION OF IDENTITY IN BANGLADESH

Abstract

Theatre activities play an important role in the history as well as the daily lives of Bangladesh, and have contributed crucially towards both national and other senses of identity. The study shall now briefly address the notable performances and theatrical traditions that have interacted with Bangalee, the Bangladeshi nation and nationalism since the British colonial era. There are ambivalent, paradoxical, and complementary genealogies to be traced, all of which have “imagined” or “narrated” or “performed” in the nation in multiple ways. Whether as part of a postcolonial project in the reconstruction of the “collective imagination” or, on the other hand, as the creation of a new aesthetic, mirroring an emergent intercultural heterogeneity, or proposing intervention for social transformation, Bangladeshi performance has formed part of a vivid tableau of complex, shifting live spectacle in Bangladesh. This study will examine theatre and performance in Bangladesh both from the point of view of artistic practice, and as an agent for change.