Birangona: Women of War

Birangona: Women of War is a British one-act play by Leesa Gazi about the untold true stories of female survivors and sufferers, Birangona, of the Bangladesh Liberation War, during which over 200,000 women were raped and tortured. The theatrical production is dedicated to narrating the stories of war heroines from their perspective.

Birangona: Women of War
Promotional poster
Written byLeesa Gazi
Samina Lutfa
Date premiered1 March 2014 (2014-03-01)

Cast
  • Leesa Gazi as Moroyom
  • Amith Rahman as multiple shadow characters
  • Director: Filiz Ozcan
  • Designer and illustrator: Caitlin Abbott
  • Lighting designer (English version): Salvatore Scollo
  • Lighting designer (Bengali version): Nasirul Haque Khokon
  • Videographer: 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

Plot

Birangona: Women of War starts with narration of folk tale, the story of Komola. It then tells the story of Moryom (Leesa Gazi), a young village girl who is newly married and expecting her first child. Then war breaks out, and Moryom is captured by the Pakistan army. Moryom goes from village life to being captured and sent to a rape camp.

Her story is interspersed with her early memories: learning to swim in the pond near her home; marrying a local boy who she calls her "tamarind man"; the first movements of the child she carries. She also tells the stories of the women she meets while she is interred, each with their own sorry tale of murder, kidnap, and rape.

Background

During the Bangladesh Liberation War of Independence from Pakistan in 1971, women were raped as part of the Pakistani Army's war strategy. The word 'Birangona' means brave woman or war heroine.[1] It is estimated that more than 200,000 women and girls were systematically raped and tortured by the Pakistan army and their Bangladeshi collaborators during the war. After the war ended thousands of women and girls were rescued from rape camps and Army barracks.[2] During the Bangladesh War of Independence from Pakistan, women were raped as part of the Pakistani Army's war strategy.[1] Scholars have suggested rape was used to terrorise the Bengali-speaking Muslim majority and the Hindu minority of Bangladesh, resulting in the births of war babies and to ostracise of the victims. The word 'Birangona' means brave woman or war heroine.[3]

When Leesa Gazi was 17, her father told her a story that after the end of the 1971 war he crossed paths with a convoy of trucks full of women. These were women captured from their village homes and interred in rape camps, most having witnessed the death of their family members. He saw hundreds and hundreds of them, standing up in those trucks as they were finally freed.[4]

Development
"My play gives a voice to the many thousands of women systematically raped and tortured. Society rejected these women, silenced their stories and denied their existence.

The stigma of rape and collective shame was so huge in a socially conservative society. These women could not disclose the attacks they had suffered, and if they tried they were treated with contempt by their own people.

The play is not only culturally important but also educationally important. These Birangona Women are elderly and dying now, and when they die their stories die with them.

They have been silenced for too long – it's important the world hears their stories now."

—Leesa Gazi, actress in and writer of Birangona: Women of War[1]

Birangona: Women of War was based on the concept and research by Leesa Gazi, who is also the central actor as well as one of the playwrights of the play.[5][6] In 2010, Gazi met[2] 21[3][5] Birangona women in Sirajganj, Bangladesh[4] and filmed their accounts.[2]

In August 2013, Gazi went back to the women with her theatre company Komola Collective,[2] a London-based theatre and arts company,.[7] to develop an R&D theatrical piece based on their testimonies.[2] With the help of a videographer, they filmed the testimonial of five Birangona women, and, along with a local playwright, developed the script for a one-act play.[4] Their accounts were interwoven into the play.[2] The play is the Komola Collective's debut production.[4]

In April 2014, Gazi said to Birmingham Mail, "My play gives a voice to the many thousands of women systematically raped and tortured. Society rejected these women, silenced their stories and denied their existence. The stigma of rape and collective shame was so huge in a socially conservative society. These women could not disclose the attacks they had suffered, and if they tried they were treated with contempt by their own people. The play is not only culturally important but also educationally important. These Birangona Women are elderly and dying now, and when they die their stories die with them. They have been silenced for too long – it's important the world hears their stories now."[1]

Production

Birangona: Women of War is directed by Filiz Ozcan and written by Samina Lutfa[5] and Leesa Gazi.[8]

The production is all about the stories of Birangonas, their subjective expressions of inner experiences. Their experiences during war, and post war period.[7] It depicts the stories of rape, imprisonment, torture of the Birangona, the honouring label the then government gave to women who suffered sexual violence during the war.[6]

It uses mixed media, the animation of a Bengali folktale and flashbacks. At the end, there is a long segment of video footage in which the Birangona women speak directly to camera about being taunted for losing their honour, that their children are stigmatised, and that they worry no one will come to their funerals.[4]

Tour

An R&D show of Birangona: Women of War was held in Dhaka to get feedback from a select audience in 2013.[9]

After the research and development show of "Birnagona: Brave Women," at the end of August, the production will open in the UK, and other countries.[7]

The production was first staged by Komola Collective in Dhaka at the Liberation War Museum in March 2014.[7] The play premiered in London on 9 April of the same year.[3] It was then staged at the Lost theatre in London, before a tour that took place in Oldham, Birmingham and Leeds.[4]

Shows of the production were staged at the Gulshan Club, Central Shaheed Minar, the National Museum Auditorium, the Experimental Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, the Mansur Hall in Sirajgonj and at the Theatre Institute Chattagram in December 2014.[5][9]

Awards

Birangona: Women of War was nominated for the Offie Award, the London-based prestigious theatre award, which sorted the play in the productions that defy traditional categories.[6]

Reception

Redhotcurry.com said, "'Birangona: Women of War' oroduction [production] gives a powerful and necessary platform to the many hundreds of thousands of women systematically raped and tortured during that time." Akram Khan said, "The play is not only culturally important but also educationally important - revealing atrocities which have been swept aside over the course of history."[8]

Christopher Hong of The Public Reviews rated the play 3.5/5 and said, "...it does not apportion blame but simply focuses on telling the stories as they are achieving what it sets out to do."[10]

Saurav Dey of The Daily Star said, "The 60-minute play is powerful; no artificial or unnecessary elements distracted the audience at any point in the performance. More such productions need to be staged across different parts of the country so that Birangonas get their due honour. Komola Collective certainly deserves a tip of the hat for bringing forth the ignored part of history in the form of a piece of art."[9]

Tahmima Anam of The Guardian called it "A powerful new play... groundbreaking production."[4] The Stage called it "...an illuminating and affecting piece."[11] Daniel Nelson of One World said, "It is an intelligently conceived and executed tale."[12]

See also

References
  1. "Harrowing war story at The Drum in Aston". Birmingham Mail. Birmingham. 14 April 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  2. Gazi, Leesa (31 March 2014). "Birangona: Will the World Listen?". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  3. Sinha, Kounteya (25 March 2014). "Play in UK tells of Bengali women raped by Pakistani army during 1971 war". The Times of India. India. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  4. Anam, Tahmina (14 April 2014). "Bangladesh's Birangona women: 'Tell the world our story'". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  5. "Komola Collective stages a series of shows of Birangona". New Age. Bangladesh. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  6. Chatak, Hasan Mansoor (22 December 2014). "Komla Collective pays tribute to Birangonas". Dhaka Tribune. Dhaka. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  7. Dey, Saurav (28 August 2014). "Bangladesh's Birangona women: 'Tell the world our story'". The Daily Star. Bangladesh. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  8. "The Komola Collective: 'Birangona: Women of War', 9th April - 19th May 2014". Redhotcurry.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  9. Dey, Saurav (19 December 2014). "Komola Collective stages Birangona: Women of War". The Daily Star. Bangladesh. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  10. Hong, Christopher (11 April 2014). "Birangona: Women Of War – Lost Theatre, London". The Public Reviews. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  11. "Birangona: Women of War". The Stage. 17 April 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  12. Nelson, Daniel (11 April 2014). "Birangona: Women Of War – Lost Theatre, London". One World. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
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