The first day of Nepal International Theater Festival was grandly observed with the presence of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli who formally inaugurated the event.

Amidst the event which took place at Mandala Theater, Anamnagar, PM Oli affirmed to allocate budget for the promotion of theater from the upcoming fiscal year. “The attempt would serve as the government’s contribution for the development of Nepali theater. The country’s development is hardly possible without the development of art, literature and culture,” he added.

Director of the festival, Rajan Khatiwada expressed his gratitude to the organizers and supporters of the festival. “Even though theater in Nepal hardly share a long history, it is growing flexible and at an ambitious pace with time. We are trying to build a medium to narrate the stories of our own which requires us to be connected with the society,” said Khatiwada.

“A collaboration of meaningful ideas and thoughts is valuable for us to make a step towards prosperity. I hope the festival plays a key role to help generate a good set of thoughts,” he added.

Meanwhile, the event also felicitated renowned scholoar Satya Mohan Joshi and nine theater personalities including Prachanda Malla, Shakuntala Sharma Gurung, Abhi Subedi, Ashesh Malla, Sabine Lehmann, Subhadra Adhikari, Sunil Mishra, Suryamala Sharma. The event witnessed some traditional and cultural performances with staging Anup Baral directed play ‘Rape Machine’.

The festival is set to stage plays in four theaters daily starting from Tuesday. A variety of plays from Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Afganistan, Norway, Italy with 30 different plays from eight countries will be staged at Mandala, Shilpee, Kausi, and Theater Mall.