Everything is calm and beautiful until a demon invades. He takes the sisters hostage. The little brother with curly hair is now in a quest – to save his sisters and avenge the demon.[break]
Mandala Theater performed “Ghungrieko Kapaal” (Curly Hair) written by Rajan Mukarung and directed by Dayahang Rai at the Second Mandala International Youth Theater Festival last November for the first time. The play in the present context has been showcased at 15 different venues all across the country.
As part of Mandala’s Family Theater, Curly Hair was first shown at Patan Durbar Square and later traveled to Kapilvastu, Gorkha, Pokhara, Rupandehi, among other districts and closed in Janakpur. The plays were shown free of cost as Mandala received support from the Embassy of Denmark in Kathmandu.
At all the different venues, the show gathered audiences in hundreds. “People of all ages enjoyed the show, schoolchildren, parents and even the elderly were having fun,” shares Daya Hyang Rai who has recently returned to the capital after the tour.
Talking about the initial idea behind the show, Rai shared that they “began by searching for stories that are deeply embedded in our culture, reflecting Nepali society and also giving out a positive message. The first criterion of the play was that it needed to be a reflection of our culture and society because we were showing it to kids and they need to learn lessons on culture and its perseverance.”
The play shows victory of good over evil which fulfills the other criterion of having a positive message. It was a conscious decision on Mandala’s part because they knew children were going to make up most of their audiences.
“So a moral in the story was important. It’s a good thing if children learn something from the play,” Rai said.
This particular story is inspired by Hetchhakuppa that has a strong cultural significance for the Kirat community. It is a story of the struggle and victory of a closely-knit family and represents life in general.
The traveling theater this year, however, is not the first of its kind for Mandala. They staged two plays last year, too. They were “Charandas Chor,” a play by the Indian playwright and director Habib Tanvir alongside “Miss Julie,” a play by August Strindberg. These were staged at ten different venues across the country.
Then in 2011, prior to the Family Theatre, the troupe took the Miteri Theatre Tour, a joint venture of Mandala Theatre Nepal and BP Koirala Nepal India Foundation. The tour had Mandala Theater presenting Charandas Chor in Janakpur, Heatuda, and Lalitpur.
Taking their theater across the countries is the biggest priority for Mandala, states Rajan Khatiwada, creative director of the theatre company. “Everything is centralized in the capital but if we can change it, why not?” he questions.
The group believes that by taking theater to people outside Kathmandu, they are not only creating a theater culture but also inspiring the involvement of the younger generation in the field.
The audiences outside Kathmandu are so much more honest in reviewing the plays, they say.
“Here, the viewers tend to be very diplomatic. But outside, you get honest comments. They either like it or they don’t,” says Rajan who also plays the central character in the play Curly Hair.
He, alongside getting compliments for acting, received special attention for his hair. He shares how this was the first time he had a chance to grow out his hair and he loved the experience. “Kids from the audience would come to me after the show to fondle my hair,” he smiles.
Among other incidents that occurred during the tour, the show at Pokhara gave the group something they say they will never forget. When the central character is saddened by the loss of his sisters in the play, the kids in the audiences started crying. Rai and his group take this incident positively and believe this incident reassured their faith in the power of theater.
As for their immediate plan, the group plans to stage plays in various schools in Kathmandu before they begin discussions for traveling theater 2012.
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