SOBD
BSK UK is a regular participant in the SOBD (Season of Bangla Drama) which is organised by the Tower Hamlets Council, London. The entire production is completed by our talented members. The play is written by the BSK UK’s in-house writer. The Director, producer, actors, costumer designer, stage designer, props maker are our own BSK members.
2009: Bhimbodh
2010 Bashon (the Salver)
2017: Cafe
The Cafe
Written by: Bulbul Hasan
Directed by: Syeda Saima Ahmed
Production: November 2017 at the Season of Bangla Drama Festival of London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Cast: Shamim Azad, Anindita Tahsin, Arfuman Choudhury, Himu M Hossain, Sadeq Ahmed Chowdhury, Shah Wahiduzzaman, Shanta Chowdhury, Sharmin Jannat Bhutto, Shoayeeb Chamak, Zahurul Islam Russell,
Music: Taslima Parvin, Kawssar-e-Zannat
Stage decoration: Khadija Rahman
Light and technical engineer: Jules Dearing (Queen Mary University of London)
Photography: Shoayeeb Chamak
Costume designer: Sharmin Bhutto
Project management: Fahmida Begum
Publicity: S M Zakir Hossain
Backstage management: Farhana Alam
The Café is the East London hub for a diverse group of British Bengalis who meet regularly to reflect on their lives and on current affairs. Examining loyalty, identity and roots, as well as the fallibility of human nature, this satirical play depicts the mismatched life of the Bengali Londoners stuck between the British mainstream and traditional Bengali culture.
The lucid language uses Horatian satire criticising vices and follies through mockery and playful wit.
2017: Juta Abishkar
2018: Floating Hearts
The Floating Hearts
Written by: Bulbul Hasan
Directed by: Syeda Saima Ahmed
Production: November 2018 for the Season of Bangla Drama Festival of London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Cast: Adnin Tarannum, Anindita Tahsin, Syeda Saima Ahmed, Ajanta Deb Roy, Anannya Das, Himu M Hossain, Sadeq Ahmad Chowdhury, Arfuman Choudhury, Zahurul Islam Russell, Shoayeeb Chamak, Sarina Zayba, Ramira Hasan
Credit:
Dramatargue: Dr. Canen Saleh
Music: Shanta Chowdhury, Taslima Parvin, Kawssar-e-Zannat
Set Dedign: Khadija Rahman
Light and technical support: Jules Dearing (Queen Mary University of London)
Project management: Fahmida Begum
Publicity: S M Zakir Hossain
Backstage Management: Farhana Alam and Reshma Sultana
Cast: Syeda Saima Ahmed
Communications and documentation: Ibrahim Aditya
Photography: Shoayeeb Chamak
Synopsis:
Floating Hearts portrays the real life stories of five ordinary women stuck in the labyrinth of expectations and judgement from family and society. It is the story of five ordinary women facing social stigma, taboo, abuse and neglect. They live among us and struggle to find a place of their own. This production is a tribute to the centenary of women’s political victory through suffragette and representation in the house of commons.
Shefali with severe learning disability had five children. She lives on her own after children were taken by the authorities and husband eventually remarried. She lost everything yet continues to hope for the family to be reunited.
Othoi’s boyfriend forced her go through several abortions but does not want to get married. Feeling dejected and undervalued, she commits suicide.
Munia was widowed only a few years after marriage and left with a child. Faced with traditions and family expectations, life changed completely.
As a successful woman, Rehnuma is defying all odds and struggles to remain at the top while being judged by colleagues.
Finally, Fardia fights to find her place as a lesbian. Her family is in denial of her sexual orientation and pressurises her to get married. She stands in a crossroad of life where
2019: Dystopia
Dystopia
Written by: Bulbul Hasan
Directed by: Syeda Saima Ahmed
Cast: Amal Nawar Rivu, Himu M Hossain, Arfuman Chowdhury, Zahurul Islam Russell, Adnin Tarannum, Anindita Tahsin, Imran Khan, Sadeq Ahmad Chowdhury, Bulbul Hasan, Ramira Hasan, Sarina Zayba, Rayan Prachya
Production: November 2019 performed at the Season of Bangla Drama Festival of London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Synopsis:
Fahmida is the central character of the play. She escapes atrocities and tortures which took place in Mongdu village in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. Fahmida has been an eye witness of a systematic barbaric attack on her community, particularly on her family members and neighbours including women and children. She is on a voyage towards Bangladeshi border with her parents, sister and other people. The Bangladeshi authority is yet to decide whether they would open the border and accept them as refugees. On a moonlit night while waiting for refugee boats, a mystic middle-aged boatman engages himself in a conversation with Fahmida. Through their conversation, Fahmida shares her traumatic experience of mass killings as an eye witness, her educational aspirations and uncertainty of life. Like the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees around her, she and her family had fled the trauma of mass murder, rapes and arson.
Fahmida talks about Hellen Keller, the deaf and blind American author she considers an inspiration. She talks about Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, another hero. She was heartbroken when her books were ravaged in the burning of her house amid deadly violence in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state. She spoke of her dream of becoming a lawyer, and of inspiring other Rohingya girls deprived of education.
Fahmida possesses a burning passion about books and education. She was stateless and single-minded about the value of education. She had witnessed brutality in Myanmar, but she was determined to remain idealistic. The play deals with the psychological journey of a young girl who wants to conquer all odds around her. Throughout the play, she engages herself in several conversations with different mystic characters as elements of magic realism in a realistic setting.
2020: No Man's Sky
No Man’s Sky
Written by: Bulbul Hasan
Directed by: Syeda Saima Ahmed
Production: November 2020 performed at the Season of Bangla Drama Festival of London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Cast: Bulbul Hasan, Fazlur Rahman Babu, Sadeq Ahmad Chowdhury, Adnin Tarannum Sharothi, Shoyaeeb Chamak, Syeda Saima Ahmed, Ramira Hasan
Dramaturge: Dr Canan Salih
Technical support: Tracey Hammill
Light and Sound score: Sadeq Ahmed Chowdhury
Costume design: Khadija Rahman
Project Management: Fahmida Begum
Publicity: SM Zakir Hossain and Imran Khan
Synopsis:
Abir, a British-Bangladeshi professional, receives the news of his father’s passing away just before lockdown. The desperate son embarks on a last flight from London to Dhaka to join his grieving mother and sister back home. Immediately after landing, he learns the landlord banned him from entering the property fearing the potential spread of the virus. Abir decides to sneak into his family home almost like a thief that night, bribing the watchman. He starts mourning his father’s death in isolation reminiscing his past, recalling fondest memories with his late father and friends since childhood and rediscovering himself. During these solitary times, Abir often feels the presence of his father in the room and starts conversing with him for comfort.
The story of Abir shows how the virus has stirred up not only a global health crisis but also exposed deep-rooted social stigmas and lack of empathy. It depicts the nature of the crisis which compelled mankind to have time at home, reflecting on and appreciating the greatest gifts in life. For Abir, it was his chance to step back, reconnect and come to terms with his loss while having to endure Covid-19 rules and the distress they caused.
2021: When Madonna Was Dying
2022:
