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APPEX Fellows from Bangladesh
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"I can share my experiences,
thoughts and ways of action regarding street theatre, liberated theatre
and the traditional forms of Bangladesh with the artists at APPEX."
Azad Abul Kalam
Uttam Chakraborty
A celebrated traditional player of Bengali music, Uttam Chakraborty has
served as a music consultant and composer for Aranyak Nattya Dal. In addition
to his classical ragas, Mr. Chakraborty is known for his improvisational
talents and his innovative flute technique. A key music consultant, composer,
and performer for the highly acclaimed production of Joyjoyanty,
he is also an accomplished performer on the tabla and the harmonium. Mr.
Chakraborty has worked as a cultural worker with the Bangla German Sampreeti
for three years, as assistant musical director with the Bangla Theatre,
and as secretary to Mamur Raschid, dramatist and artistic director of
Aranyak Nattya Dal. He has been a member of Aranyak since 1985.
Azad Abul Kalam
(APPEX I) As an actor and director in three major Bangladeshi theatre
companies, he has toured internationally throughout Europe and India.
His directing credits include numerous Bangladesh theater productions
and a unique indigenous adaptation of ‘Oliver Twist’ translated
into the Bangla language. He has participated in theater workshops given
by a range of international theater figures, including Francis Cervantes,
Clive Barker and Dan Chumley, and acted in a production of the Wole Soyinke
play ‘Strong Breed’. Mr. Kalam has a deep commitment to the
use of theatre in education and conducts an ongoing series of theater
workshops for children throughout Bangladesh. He has an M.A. degree in
Mass Communication and Journalism.
M. Fazlur Rahman
(APPEX I) Since 1983, Mr. Rahman has been a
core member of the Aranyak Natya Dal theatre company as an actor, musician
and cultural worker. He has toured Europe, India and Thailand with the
company and has composed music for several theatrical productions. His
firm grounding in Bangladesh folk music forms such as Pala has
informed his own creative musical work for the Bangladeshi theater. In
1993, Mr. Rahman presented a workshop on the use of Bangladeshi Folk Music
in Theatre at the Asian People’s Theatre Festival and has taught
theater workshops throughout Bangladesh.
Faiz Zahir
Faiz Zahir is an actor, director, set and costume designer, animator, and cultural worker.
He holds a B.A. in humanities from the University of Dhaka. Mr. Faiz has been a grassroots
activist since 1980; he was the founder of Probash Natya Dal, a theater group organized by
immigrant communities based in Rome, Italy, and is an organizer with Mukto Natok Dal, a
national theater organization working in rural Bangladesh. In addition, he manages and
coordinates a radio magazine for rural and urban listeners, and creates television and
audiovisual material on development issues. Mr. Zahir has participated in the Festival
celebrating the ninetieth birthday anniversary of Bertolt Brecht in Germany took part in
the Second Asian People's Theatre Festival in Hong Kong. He is an active member of Aranyak
Nattya Dal and directed, designed, and acted in the recent productions Joyjoyanti, Lebedev,
and Halum Halum.
