Projects
O Motherland!
In this shadow puppet collaboration with the Bangla School of Music, puppet scenes illustrate traditional songs from Bangladesh performed live by a community orchestra. Part 1 of this performance was staged in 2015, with songs chosen and translated by Akram Hossein and Nazmul Anwar. Part 2 of this performance was adapted in 2018 from a script titled “Amar Bangla”, or “Our Bangladesh”, a work that Akram Hossain, Bangla School director, originally wrote for a spoken word performance and translated into a performance appropriate for young audiences. The show uses simple metaphors to narrate broad concepts in Bangladesh’s history, such as the changing of the seasons as they relate to Bangladesh’s history as a nation; folktales of animals memorialized as Bangla’s national icons; the hope that a Bangladeshi child provides for the future; and stories of Bangla citizens abroad.
O Motherland! uses shadow puppets as a vehicle to increase knowledge and appreciation of Bangladesh history and culture at a time when immigration policies and the lives of foreign-born citizens are under attack. While the show is performed in both English and Bengali, the visual icons and puppetry in the show transcends language, providing a way in for audiences to these stories no matter what their first language may be.
