Theatre Groups

Theatre Groups organisations that perform plays. herasim steppanovich lebedeff established the first Natyagosthi in calcutta in 1795, which made zamindars (landlords) and connoisseurs of drama interested in the theatre so that they began establishing one dramatic club after another. Though the people of dhaka did not response to the theatre with much enthusiasm as the people of Calcutta, a number of dramatic groups eg, namely Illisium Theatre (1888), Crown Theatre (1890-92), etc, were established in Dhaka during the pre-partition period. Some of the drama groups worth mentioning that were established outside Dhaka are Khulna Theatre (1900), Coronation Dramatic Club, Tangail (1911), Dinajpur Natya Samiti (1913), etc. Dramatic Clubs and groups established after the partition of India in 1947 in Dhaka include Habib Productions (1952), Drama Circle (1955), Kheyali Group Theatre (1969), etc. A number of dramatic groups became active in independent Bangladesh after 1971, which gave a new momentum to the theatre movement. Short list of some dramatic clubs those are popularly known as below:

Name Place year
Baghbazar Amateur Theatre Kolkata 1867
Great National Theatre Kolkata 1873
Ilishiam Theatre Dhaka 1888
Crown Theatre Dhaka 1890-1992
Diamond Jubilee Theatre Dhaka 1897
Khulna Theatre Khulna 1900
Coronation Dramatic Club Tangail 1911
Dinajpur Natya Samiti Dinajpur 1913
Gananatya Sangha Bangalore 1941
Habib Productions Dhaka 1952
Drama Circle Dhaka 1956
Nabarupi Dinajpur 1963
Shikha Sangsad Rangpur 1966
Nagarik Natya Sampraday Dhaka 1968
Kheyali Group Theatre Barisal 1969
Aranyak Natyadal Dhaka 1971
Theatre (Baily Road) Dhaka 1972
Natyachakra Dhaka 1972
Baguda (Bogra) Theatre Bogra 1972
Bahubachan Dhaka 1972
Theatre (Arambagh) Dhaka 1972
Dhaka Theatre Dhaka 1973
Arindam Natya Sampraday Chittagong 1974
Tirjak Natyadal Chittagong 1974
Ganayan Natya Sampraday Chittagong 1975
Jatrik Natyagosthi Comilla 1975
Rangarup Natya Academy Dhaka 1975
Narayanganj Theatre Narayanganj 1976
Nandanik Natya Sampraday Dhaka 1977
Barisal Natak Barisal 1977
Janantik Natya Sampraday Comilla 1978
Dhaka Little Theatre Dhaka 1978
Tarun Sampraday Sirajganj 1978
Padatik Natya Sangsad Dhaka 1978
Shabdabali Group Theatre Barisal 1978
Ananya '79 Kushtia 1979
Anushilan Natyadal Rajshahi 1979
Bodhan Theatre Kushtia 1979
Dhaka Padatik Dhaka 1980
Baguda (Bogra) Natyagosthi Bogra 1980
Lokanatya Dal Dhaka 1981
Sandhani Natyachakra Sylhet 1981
Anirban Sanskritik Sangathan Darshana 1983
Surma Theatre Sylhet 1983
Natyakendra Dhaka 1990
Tirjak Natya Gosthi (Chittagong) Chittagong 1990
Faridpur Theatre Faridpur 1990
Theatre (Topkhana) Dhaka ?
Theatre '73 Chittagong 1973

[Shamima Akhter]

See also theatre stage.