Dhaka: A four-day festival to show respect to noted playwright and theater theoretician Selim Al Deen has begun at the Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka, reports local news agency.

The Shilapakala Academy and Bangladesh Graam Theatre are jointly supporting the event-’Selim Al Deen Memorial Festival’ to portray the work of the maestro who is fondly called Natyacharya for being a towering figure of Bangla theatre in post-Rabindranath era. Dhaka Theatre has organised the event.

The festival has been organised to commemorate his memory as he died on 14 January  in 2008.

Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor opened the event at the Experimental Theatre Hall of BSA on 12 January  evening. Following the inauguration ceremony, Bunon Theatre from Savar staged their play ‘Nakshi Kanthar Maath’. Written by Poet Jasimuddin, the play has been directed by Anan Zaman.

On 13 January, two plays were staged at the festival. Jalalpur Theatre from Jamalpur staged ‘Shomoy Er Shonglap’, and Drama and Dramatics Department of Jahangirnagar University staged ‘Kobi’ at the Experimental Theatre Hall.

The four-day event envisages staging of plays by troupes from outside Dhaka, an open seminar, and placing wreaths at the grave of the playwright at Jahangir Nagar University campus on Thursday.

Selim Al-Deen was born on 18 August, 1949 in Sonagazi Upazila of Feni. He was attracted to Bangla literature at a young age, and wrote a few poems. But later, with encouragement from noted writer Munier Chowdhury, he chose theatre for research and creation.

A recipient of Ekushey Padak in 2007 and National Film Awards in 1994 and 1996, he also revived Mymensingh Geetika, and penned a few plays following the pattern.