KATHMANDU, Mar 7: An interesting attempt of rewriting and retelling, the play ‘Yayati’ being staged at Shilpee Theater is a mythical drama relating to the Hindu mythological epic, Mahabharata. The play directed by Tanka Chaulagain is closely adapted from the later version of Yayati written by an Indian playwright Girish Karnad. 

As per the belief of various historians, King Yayati is portrayed as an ethical character with the least flaws. However, the play delves deep into him unveiling the flaws of this pivotal character. King Yayati (Ghimire Yuvraj)is married to Asura’s priest Sukracharya’s daughter, Devayani (Sarawati Adhikari). Despite Devayani’s love and loyalty to the king, he finds himself physically intimate with Sharmistha (Pabitra Khadka), the queen’s caretaker, which bears unusual outcomes against everyone in the palace. 

The king’s infidelity rages Devyani and her father Sukracharya who then put a curse on the king for his unethical demeanor. The plot thus thickens with the panicked king frantically striving to break the curse which rather befalls on his son, Pururaj (Prakesh Sindhuliya) deeply affecting Pururaj’s wife, Chitralekha (Archana Panthi) and caretaker of the palace, Swornalata (Aakankshya GC).

The plot revolves around six characters who contribute to each happening of the events that take place in the palace. The ancient setting and a set of extraordinary costumes adds much appeal to the play. One of the strengths of the play certainly lies in the heavy dialogues and unprecedented proceedings of the plot. Although the play is hardly versatile with the execution of props and settings, expressive mimes and musical effects are in perfect sync with the scenes. The play is a blend of sad and happy scenes where the characters have executed their appointed roles without any dialogue or technical error. It eventually ends up giving the message‘You reap what you sow’.

“The play that we have adapted from Karnad’s ‘Yayati’ is more of an improvised version which revolves around the issues of women. Translating and directing the play, I have also managed to reach out to a maximum number of audiences,” said Chaulagain.

“The play was much of challenge to us as we had to do a lot of research and fit into the character that the plot demanded. Since it shared a mythical background, we got to gain deeper insights on events and mythical stories that dated back to centuries,” said team ‘Yayati’. 

The play is being staged until March 17 every day, except on Tuesdays,at 5 pm, at Shilpee Theater, Battisputali.