Tradition and Modernity in Bangladesh: An Interview with Sayeed Ahmad

TraditionandModernity in Bangladesh An Interview with Sayeed Ahmad SayeedAhmad is one of Dhaka'sleadingintellectuals.ThroughoutBangladesh 's turbulent history he has served in several ministerialposts. Ahmad is also a playwright, translator,theatre scholar,and author of children's books. His absurdist/folkplay The Thing was recently staged in Paris. Other works have been produced on the subcontinent. This interview was taped by BonnieMarrancaand GautamDasguptain New York in the Summer of 1990. MARRANCA: When we were in Dhaka in 1978 there was a certain euphoria because it was so close to the recent war of liberation. People were very excited then about starting new museums, art academies, and theatre groups. Now, twelve years later, has that kind of excitement maintained itself at the same level? AHMAD: So many ups and downs have come economically and politically, as well as natural calamities. There had been on the one hand a lot of enthusiasm, less of money; on the other hand, a lot of new people emerging and yet a lack of facilities, in the field of theatre particularly. A large number of companies have organized-group theatres, mainly. No less than 50 or 60, and there will be more. MARRANCA: Are they government supported, or do they run on their own? AHMAD: They mostly run on their own. The government gives a small subsidy. Public support is there also from companies and philanthropic societies. The box office has also gone up. This is happening not only in Dhaka, which is a main center of activity, but also in some of the other smaller university cities such as Chittagong and Rajshahi. At the same time, 104 a lot of people who did theatre 15 or 20 years ago have grown in age, and they are getting tired. In our part of the world we don't have government patronage in a big way. It is not possible within the framework of the economy to have much money come out of the government, or corporations. But the private sector is showing much more interest now, and is supporting some of the theatre festivals and big productions. DASGUPTA: How has the theatrical situation within Bangladesh changed in comparison to the era prior to 1971, when Bangladesh was still East Pakistan? AHMAD: In the pre-1971 period, there was mostly amateurish work. Theatres used to do two or three or four performances in a year. I remember , in my childhood during the Puja Festival there used to be a performance in every locality. So, overall in a year in a city, we would find theatre patronized by zamindars, the landlord group, wealthy people, business people, intellectuals. Government sponsorship was literally nil then, because that was the British time. Then the Pakistani time began in which also we didn't have much of government contribution. But after 71 we find the government coming forward-however small it may be, but they are involved. In the East Pakistan period the emphasis was more on social drama, the middle class problem. As you know, we had a problem with unemployment, and economic questions. They were always problems in Bengal. MARRANCA: Were these original plays, or European drama? AHMAD: We had a lot of European plays during the Pakistan period, and even now we are seeing many European and American plays. In Bengali literature, we had a very sizeable addition of translated literature in the 40s. There was hardly a playwright or a novelist of international repute who had not been translated into Bengali. And that helped us in staging foreign plays, because people knew about Shakespeare, about Shaw, about Ibsen, and others. But in the 50s and the 60s it started dying out, mainly for financial reasons. And in the early 70s we hardly had much literature in translation. But since the 70s-after the liberation of Bangladesh -there is again an interest. I, myself, am now engaged in doing a lot of translation work. Recently, I have done lonesco's plays-The Chairs, The Bald Soprano -andI will do some Jean Genet, and some younger writers. I have a feeling that in East Pakistan or in Bangladesh we have done a lot more foreign plays than many other people...