Theatre troupe Loko Natya Dal staged its acclaimed play Sonai Madhab at Experimental Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on November 9.

Sonai Madhab has been directed by Liaquat Ali Lucky. The play is based on one of the 10 ballads of Mymensingh Geetika. It is a woman-centric romantic tragedy play.

The play, presented through songs, focuses mostly on the woes of Sonai, a rural fatherless girl brought up by her maternal uncle. How society strangles Sonai's love for Madhab is presented in the production.

Sonai Madhab is one of the 10 ballads of Mymensingh Geetika, and it bears all characteristics of a ballad. It is woman-centric, it is presented through songs, and it is what can be called a romance that ends with a tragedy.

The play focuses mostly on the woes of Sonai, a rural, fatherless girl brought up by her maternal uncle. How society strangles Sonai's love for Madhab is presented in the traditional pala form. In its presentation, Loko Natya Dal combined traditional panchali and jatra. The audience can visualize the story in Pala form through traditional music and dance recitals.

The play, directed by Liaquat Ali Lucky, is a dramatic depiction that weaves woes, agonies and dilemmas of women in a traditional narrative way. The play showcases an ancient and common theatre trait of Bangladesh on stage as male artistes played the female characters in the play.