English translation of ‘Matbring’ shortlisted for Rise Against Fanaticism Through the Arts Festival

Bangla Academy awardee playwright Sadhana Ahmed’s “Matbring”, English title “Woodlanders”, has been shortlisted for reading online worldwide by Rising Against Fanaticism Through the Arts Festival (RAFTA), a United Kingdom-based organization. The Bangla version of the play was first staged in Dhaka in 2017.

Every year, RAFTA calls for plays worldwide written in different languages and translated into English, shortlists the ones that stand out with extraordinary merits, and perform them on stage. Back in 2019, Sadhana Ahmed got her to play “Matbring” translated into English by renowned translator Prof Abdus Selim, who received the Bangla Academy award in 2015 for his translation works.

The play was shortlisted competing with more than 250 plays, submitted from different parts of the globe. At that time, it was supposed to be performed on stage by English-speaking actors and actresses. But it was not possible due to the unusual surge of Covid-19 worldwide. After three years, the foundation has decided to hold an online reading of all the selected 15 plays included in their Commandment List. The online reading performance of “Matbring” was held on March 26, 2022.

[Originally published in The Daily Star on March 28, 2022. Please follow the link to read the original content.]