Theatre troupe Tarua staged their fourth production titled All Quiet on the Western Front at National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Thursday.
The play is a stage adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque鈥檚 novel, exploring the experiences of German soldiers on the Western Front during First World War.
The play is written by Runa Kanchan and directed by Bakar Bakul.
The play focuses on the central character, Paul Baumer, and his journey as a soldier who dreams of becoming a writer but later being influenced by his teacher Kantorek he joins the German Army. Kemmerich, Ben, Muller and Albert, the five friends, sang patriotic songs after their training but the reality of the war does not match their imagination.
They realise they are nothing but expendable bodies on the battlefield. Amid a brutal fight the soldiers begin to question the war itself - why it was declared and who truly benefits from it.聽
Shah Mohsin, Kumar Uday, Tamim Ahmed, Ripon Ghosh, Zubayer Mahmud, Jibon, Arnob, Tarek, Sunny, Sakya, Kaiyum, Abhijit, Farhad, Arpita, and Munni, among others, portrayed different characters in the play.
Ahmed Opu designed the set and Hendry Sen designed the light while Runa Kanchan designed costumes for the production.
鈥楾o unite anti-war peace-loving individuals, the rigorous dramatisation of this novel is absolutely necessary, Bakar Bakul said, adding that it鈥檚 an artistic responsibility to free the earth from the war in the name of nationality, ideology, and identity politics created by warmongers.聽
Premiered on April 23, All Quiet on the Western Front will also be staged at 4:00pm and 7.00pm on Friday at the same venue.