“I wrote Maila.com two years back while I was taking classes at the Actor’s Studio at Maharajgunj with my teacher Anup Baral,” says Rai, 28, who came to Kathmandu in 2001 from Bhojpur, hoping to become a radio jockey.
“We used to take tea breaks in the afternoon after our classes, and I used to notice the people at the teashop,” says Rai, “which was how the concept for this play evolved.”
Maila.com was performed at the studio, but for Rai, this is his first big public show.
“What I’m trying to portray through Maila.com is the internal thoughts of the two characters, and how they perceive each other. I want my viewers to observe this closely,” puts in Rai. “The play begins with the sound of a computer starting up, and the stage becomes a screen for the audience.”
Nonetheless, as the play proceeds, the audience of Maila.com become more than the fourth wall for a black box.
The teashop is a busy place, but there are no actors who play as customers. The two characters face the audience when talking to the “invisible” customers, and it, in fact, appears as if they are talking to us. We become the customers.
The stage for Maila.com is uniquely set up. It is a teashop, but it has none of the elements indicating so. There are no kitchen utensils or stoves, but simple utilities such as buckets and mugs. The only obvious pieces of furniture are the chairs. The cupboard is represented by a simple cuboid frame. But what is amazing is that we do know that food is kept in the cupboard by the gestures and actions of the two actors.
Needless to say that Rajan Khatiwada, 31 and Srijana Subba, 22, have performed exceptionally well in the play.
Playwright Rai demands the attentiveness of his audience in “Maila.com” because it is filled with gestures and actions.
“Our lives are not necessarily filled with verbal conversations only, and we have many kinds of interactions that often need no words,” says Rai. The sound cues are also sparse, but appropriately designed. The play ends with the sound of a computer shutting down.
Maila.com makes us laugh, and at the same time we sympathize with the characters. It reminds us of the mundane, but which often is not as mundane as we think. It reminds of the many “maila”-s we see in teashops. The play is adorable – and inspiring.
It is therefore no surprise that Dayahang Rai’s debut “Maila.com’ has been selected for the Olympiad: International Theater Festival, to be held in Orissa, India, which is set to take place this September. A total of 24 countries are participating in the festival, and “Maila.com” will be representing Nepal.
Maila.com is on show at the Direction Exhibition and Convention Center, United World Trade Center, Tripureshwor, till September 13; every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 5:30 pm. The show for August 29 Saturday has been shifted to 1:30pm.
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