Birangona: Women of War at The Lost Theatre 9-20th April. 
Performances are Weds-Sat at 8pm with a 5pm show on Sundays. The show is only 55 minutes long but highlights hugely important issues. 

The play, produced by Komola Collective  highlights the stories of the female survivors of the Liberation War of Bangladesh 1971 during which over 200,000 women were systematically raped and tortured. It is hoped that the issues raised will be given greater exposure through the platform created by Komola Collective. (After it's Lost Theatre run it embarks on a UK tour during May - returning to Wimbledon Theatre on the 16/17th May).  

Birangona: Women of War featured in The Times of India  March 2014

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/Play-in-UK-tells-of-Bengali-women-raped-by-Pakistani-army-during-1971-war/articleshow/32634878.cms

Akram Khan MBE, a supporter of the production said:  The production gives a powerful  and necessary platform to the many hundreds of thousands of women systematically raped and tortured during the Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. The stories of the Birangona women have been shrouded in shame and secrecy for too long and it is time for them to be told. The play is not only culturally important but also educationally important - revealing atrocities which have been swept aside over the course of history. “ 

The team travelled to Bangladesh to speak to the women about their experiences and to document their stories which have often remained silenced until now. The production is inspired by their harrowing testimony.   

Full press release 

THE KOMOLA COLLECTIVE PRESENT

BIRANGONA: WOMEN OF WAR

Inspired by the true stories of survivors of the Liberation War of Bangladesh of 1971

Supported by: Arts Council England

Written by Samina Luthfa & Leesa Gazi

Directed by Filiz Ozcan 

At The Lost Theatre

9th April - 20th April 

Followed by UK Tour: May 1st - 19th

When a Birangona Woman dies, her story dies with her

Evenings: Weds - Sat 20:00 

Matinees: Sun 17:00 

Tickets: £13.00 / £11:00 (conc)

Press Night: 9th April 

Running Time: 55 minutes

Q&A: Fri & Sat post performances

Venue: 208 Wandsworth Rd, London SW8 2JU

 www.losttheatre.co.uk

Bookings: 0844 847 1680 / 

https://www.ticketweb.co.uk/event/birangona-women-of-war-tickets/112079

 

“A powerful, natural production.” The Daily Star (Bangladesh)

“Leesa’s superb performance touched the souls of the audience ”The Independent (Bangladesh)

“Outstanding and praiseworthy production” Dhaka Tribune

“A heart wrenching story” New Age Bangladesh

Directed by: Filiz OzcanDesigner & IllustratorCaitlin Abbott; Lighting Designer: Salvatore ScolloVideographer: Fahmida Islam; Sound Design: Ahsan Reza Khan; Artwork: Caitlin Abbott (from an original photo by Naib Uddin Ahmed); Producer: Buffy Sharpe for Komola Collective; Vocals: Sohini Alam; Voice Artist: Faisal Gazi Original Poem: Tarfia Faizullah 

Cast: Leesa Gazi (Moryom) & Amith Rahman (Multiple Shadow charcacters) 

“I feel people should see Komola Collective’s haunting Birangona: Women of War. The production gives a powerful  and necessary platform to the many hundreds of thousands of women systematically raped and tortured during the Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. The stories of the Birangona women have been shrouded in shame and secrecy for too long and it is time for them to be told. The play is not only culturally important but also educationally important - revealing atrocities which have been swept aside over the course of history. “ 

Akram Khan MBE

The year is 1971; the war of independence tears through Bangladesh, and no part of the country is left untouched. Amidst this unrest and violence, Moryom still remembers the calming details of her life before: the taste of tamarind, the smell of her mother, holding her husband’s hand. But the Kalbosheki Storm is coming. In a small village, Moroyom and her family wait fearfully for its arrival. Every day they hide from the army in the pond behind their house, while across the country, women and girls are disappearing from streets and homes. When the storm finally hits, it will tear away everything.

Birangona means ‘Brave Woman’ or ‘War Heroine’. In the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence from Pakistan, more than 200,000 women and girls were systematically raped and tortured as part of the Pakistani Army’s war strategy. These women were then ignored by a society where rape is considered to be a source of shame for the victims. Marked with dishonour, they were silenced, ostracised and forgotten. Komola Collective wants to help break this silence. Given how wartime rape is a phenomenon that affects people worldwide, we feel that it is important, now more than ever, to tell these stories. The 2014 tour of 'Birangona: Women of War' is dedicated to Birangona, Josna Begum who died in February 2014, 43 years after the independence of Bangladesh.

Komola Collective is a London-based theatre and arts company dedicated to telling the stories that often go untold - stories from women's perspectives. Komola means orange - Orange, the spark that becomes a flame; a flame that creates heat and light. The Collective comprises a writer, director, actor, musician, illustrator, facilitator, composer and designer, who’s collective wish is to revisit history, challenge social taboos, unearth myths and and question accepted beliefs. Komola wants to look at the world through women’s eyes.

Director: Filiz Ozcan is a director of theatre and festivals, she is currently working with Jacksons Lane Theatre. A member of the World Arts Platform Artist Advisory Group, her recent productions include: Birangona Women of War in Bangladesh, Bonbibi at Rich Mix London (part of A Season of Bangla Drama), A Midsummer Night's Dream in Newcastle-under-Lyme, The Legends of King Arthur (for the Without Frontiers Festival, Poland); Rusalka at BAC London, and the Cost of Living, which toured secondary schools in Stoke-on-Trent. 

In August 2013, Filiz led A Midsummer Night's Dream workshops in Poland for the Gdansk Shakespeare Festival.  Filiz Ozcan is the co-founder of Komola Collective - dedicated to telling the stories that often go untold - stories from women's perspectives. 

Actor, Concept Developer & Co-Writer: Leesa Gazi is also the co-founder of Komola Collective. Her credits include: Sonata, Rokeya’s Dream, Demon’s Revenge (Tara Arts);Ponderful People (Face Front); People’s Romeo, (Tara Arts) and Bonbibi (Culturepot Global) at the Southbank Centre. Sonata, adapted and performed by Leesa, was invited to Bangladesh in 2010 by the British Council. Other credits include, cultural coordinator and voice artist for Akram Khan’s Desh and script interpreter for the 2012 Globe to Globe festival at the Globe Theatre. Forthcoming work includes a Autumn 2014 tour of Whisper Me Happy Ever After (Face Front Theatre). Leesa works for Train4change as an actor as well, and her latest project with them on a film for the charity WaterAid. Leesa hosts Aei Jonopode, a weekly live-phone-in show on Bangla TV. Her first novel, Rourob, was published in 2010.

Actor: Amith Rahman trained in the Philippines under American actor and director Dan Shor at the International Academy of film and TV. He is a trained dancer in Khatak, Arabic folk, Salsa and contemporary dance. In 2006 he toured South East Asia in Tagore’s musical ballet Shapmuchon and Sheyma.

His film credits include: Nigel Cole’s All in Good Time, Tolga Ornek’s Labyrinth;  Fiona Cross’sDeep GoldBlack Swan, Imaginary Portrait (Awarded Best film at the Pune international Film festival 2008). Theatre credits include Wuthering Heights ((Tamasha) Curse RedemptionExile, Street Seduction and The Cherry Orchard. Forthcoming releases include a British-American untitled project which is due out in 2015.

Birangona - Women of War

Birangona - Women of War

Image by Komola collective


Co-writer: Samina Luthfa is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Dhaka  She recently completed her DPhil (PhD) in Sociology from the St Cross College at the University of Oxford on political protests against mining in Bangladesh. One of the founding members of BotTala, a performance space www.bottala.com, which was formed in 2008 in Dhaka, Samina is also a founder member of Theatre Folks www.theatrefolks.com a group founded by expatriate Bangladeshis in Oxford, UK which seeks to encourage greater community cohesion and communication through art. Samina’s plays: Teerthankar and Khona, have received wide acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Khona has been translated by late Professor Kabir Chowdhury and is published as one of  three plays in a volume called The Unforgettable Three. 

Producer: Buffy Sharpe has extensive experience is as an in-house fundraiser and business advisor as well as running her own opera company Eclectic Opera. As a producer Buffy specialises in creating entertaining, accessible, emotive and visually appealing performances on a limited budget. She has engineered numerous productions from workshops, to rehearsed readings, to concerts, to full theatrical productions, to open air dance happenings at The Royal Festival Hall, Sadler's Wells, The King's Head, The Bridewell Theatre, The Midland Arts Centre, The Actor's Church, The Arcola Theatre, Riverside Studios, The Peckham Arts Festival, The Grimeborn and  The Birmingham Four Squares Festival. 

Also a writer, Buffy’s work includes librettos and songs which are often contemporary re-workings of myths, legends and traditional stories. She believes in showing the universality of human experiences and emotions: Many things change through history, countries and governments rise and fall, but the stories that people tell and the way they feel remains the same.

Designer/Illustrator and Co-founder: Caitlin Abbott has been illustrating, designing and constructing for theatre since 2009 She is currently a student of Architecture at the Bartlett School, UCL. Her design credits include those for: The Winter’s Tale (Gdansk & Ostrava Summer Shakespeare Festivals); Cymbeline (Drayton Arms Theatre), Bonbibi  (Richmix); Peter and No Comment (The Shaw Theatre), The Taming of the Shrew (Tara Arts), The Return (The Etcetera, Calder Bookshop Theatre); Turkish Delights (World Arts Platform). Assistant designer and prop maker credits include: Pericles (Gdansk Shakespeare Festival), All that Fall (Jermyn Street, Arts Theatre) and Wisdom Pot (Woolwich Tramshed).

Links

1971 Rape and its consequences

http://opinion.bdnews24.com/2010/12/15/1971-rape-and-its-consequences/

The Hidden History of the Birangona Women  - the short testimony of five Birangona women

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvHLUL71UYU

NBC News Report - Bangladesh Genocide: Rape Victims

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwwPbkyZVJo

Tour Dates 

Lost Theatre 

Apr 9th - Apr 2oth, 2014

London

Grange Arts Centre

May 1st / 2nd  2014

Oldham

Seven Arts 

May 3rd /4th

Leeds 

The Drum

May 11th

Birmingham

New Wimbledon Theatre

May 16th /17th

London

Redbridge Central Library 

May 19th

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