In order to commemorate the fourth death centenary of Miguel de Cervantes, the greatest novelist, poet and playwright and also the creator of the worldwide known novel Don Quijote de la Mancha, the Inditex Chair of Spanish Language and Culture at the University of Dhaka is bringing the theatre company to Bangladesh from the Universidad del Valle from Cali, Colombia.

Laboratorio Escénico Univalle is a group of artistic creation and investigation from the Performing Arts Department from Faculty of Integrated Arts, with a constant international, national and departmental activity; recognised with many awards in international festivals across America and Europe, says a press release.

This prestigious university company will perform an adapted version of The dialogue of the dogs, one of the most personal and original stories from Novelas Ejemplares by Miguel de Cervantes.

In the play, we find a curious fact — the main characters are two dogs that talk among themselves. The testimony of this unusual dialogue is brought to us by a patient, who is locked up in the hospital, listens to the conversation of the dogs. The Dialogue turns into a brutal and valuable portrait of the ethical, religious, social and artistic values of the XVII century.

The first show of the project, under the direction of the teachers Ma Zhenghong and Alejandro Gonzalez Puche, was presented 11 March at National Theatre Hall, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, and another show will be held on 16 March at the TSC of Dhaka University.

In addition, with this initiative, the Inditex Chair promotes an academic and artistic exchange in Bangladesh, as the work of this theatre company is accompanied by workshops and classes at the University. Its activities include the preparation of two workshops on ‘Festive elements in Cervantes’ interludes’, with students of the Department of Theatre from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Dhaka, and also with the actors of the Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation. The workshops will culminate with a public representation of the resulting small scenes.