Many Nepali students came to watch the shows in Chittagong, Rajshahi and Rangpur which was a huge encouragement for the actors.However, it was not just the Nepali audience that showed their appreciation for the team from Mandala. Bangladeshi audiences were also seen enjoying the play.
Actor Binita Gurung states, "At the beginning of the tour, I had the misgiving that due to the language barrier, the audience would either fall asleep during the show or leave the hall midway. It was amazing to see them not only sit through the entire performance but also show their appreciation for it."
Gurung along with Ranjana Oli are the only two actors for whom this was the first tour outside of Nepal. Oli adds, "I feel I have learnt so much from our days here. When we did the same play in Nepal, the response I received was ordinary. But I've been getting good feedback on my performance here and that makes me feel more dedicated toward theater."
Actor Somnath Khanal feels the Bangladeshi audience could relate to the play because the story was close to their society. Khanal says, "Many audiences have told us that the things we portrayed were similar to what happens in their society. So many things also happen around them."
Actor Bikash Joshi points out that the play centers on the lives of people from the lower echelons of society. And with a vast number of Bangladeshi citizens coming from a lower stratum of society and sharing a similar justice system and police administration with the rest of South Asia, perhaps they could all relate to the play, says the actor.
The tour has also helped the actors see the difference between the theater culture in Nepal and Bangladesh. Actor Umesh Tamang says, "We might be ahead commercially, but we can definitely welcome the institutional support Bangladesh theater groups get here. If our government also supported the theater groups in Nepal, we would all grow in leaps and bounds."
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