KATHMANDU, April 16: The Shilpee Theatre Group is visiting the eastern parts of Nepal from April 18 with an awareness-raising street drama called Adhyaro Biruddha (Against Darkness). The troupe of 10 artistes from four different eastern cities will first perform in Chitwan in mid-south Nepal and then head further eastwards to Hetauda, Janakpur, Itahari, Biratnagar, Dharan, Dhankuta, Hile, Damak, Birtamod, Fikkal, Illam, and Fidim. [break]
“We’ve prepared the play especially for the eastern region,” says Rajan Khatiwada, director of the play. “We’ve improvised on the accents, ambience, and sometimes on the topics as well, to match the moods of the people in the eastern region.”
Adhyaro Biruddha, a series of public awareness campaign, was initiated by Shilpee since last year with a theatre performance and poetry recitation at the World Trade Centre in Tripureshwor in Kathmandu.
The present play is based on three characters – Uma Singh, the late Janakpur-based print and radio journalist who became prey to impunity, a martyr from the Jana Andolan II, and a businessman who went from riches to rags due to constant strikes that led to present economic crises.
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“Through this drama, we want to ask people if load-shedding alone is the darkness we need to fight against,” coordinator Ghimire Yubraj explains. “Load shedding is just symbolic. In Nepal, we have many darker issues where we need to raise awareness of. For instance, power centralization contradicts the concept of public participatory democracy. That’s why we need a federal government. But that doesn’t mean we have to ignite ethnic differences.”
This former player from Gurukul further stresses, “We don’t have a particular script. Basically, we improvise on it with our fellow actors from different parts of the country. We thought that rather than following a strict script, it would be better to invite people from different parts of the country and incorporate their firsthand experience in the performance. And judging from the success and demand the play has earned so far, we also plan to tour the western region.”
With Ganga Prasad Tiwari and Sabina Badal of the Shilpee Theatre Group, the other artistes from Dharan are Renuka Karki and Durga BK; from Jhapa, there are Gopal Aryal and Jeevan Baral; from Ilam, the troupe has Shyaman Rai and Malati Rai; and from Kapilvastu is Surya Chundali.
The drama ensemble will be on a fifteen-daylong tour.
The Shilpee Theatre Group was established in 2006, as initiated by Ghimire Yubraj and Rajan Khatiwada. Being former associates at Aarohan Gurukul, both Yubraj and Rajan decided to follow their own concepts and establish a new group with seven artists. With prosceniums and street dramas, Shilpee has already performed fifteen plays till date.
