ABSTRACT
The new theatre movement of Bangladesh is as old as the country itself.
Although relatively a young nation, born in 1971 out of a bloody but glori-
ous war of independence which claimed the sacrifice of three million people,
the history of its theatre dates back to the 6 th
century AD, when a Buddhist
play was performed in Sanskrit. About four centuries later, Sanskrit gave way
as court language to Bengali, the mother tongue of the people living in this
part of the world.
