National 6 (Spotlight Weekly)

Towards Professionalism

Despite a relatively short history of theatre culture in Nepal, the trends in the recent times have been very encouraging

By THAKUR AMGAI

A noble class family, engrossed in the recall of their glorious past, is discussing, in agony, about how their glory of the past has faded away with time. Antiques are hanging around the walls and helpless age-old guns, which had once ruled the nation, are displayed flamboyantly on the walls. Intervening the noble class forum, a group of masked men and women enter the room pointing modern guns to each of them. They loot the older guns and valuables. They also do not fail to throw harsh words on them about the exploitation their forefathers had imposed on the people and pride of the legacy they have been living with.

Such a scene is not very rare at the present Nepalese context. However, the one mentioned above is not a narration of one of the real incidents, but a description of a scene of a theatre staged at the Sama theatre, at the premises of Gurukul Theatre School, in Maitidevi knoll.

Theatre at Gurukul : Rediscovering the art

The theatre-named after the pioneering Nepali dramatist Bal Krishna Sama, who is also known as the Shakespeare of Nepal, has been putting up theatre shows regularly since early last year. In an attempt to enrich the theatre culture in Nepal and guide the same towards professionalism, the artistes, directors and technicians ñ who are in fact, the same people in different hats - have been whole-heartedly involved. Their dedication in entertaining the audience of Nepali theatre with their natural acting filled with emotions takes the audience to a different world. A journey to Thamel [the scene described above], fire in the monastery and the translated version of the "the doll's house" have become hit shows of the year and some of them are being repeatedly shown.

Arohan and Dabali theatre group are the chief teams showing the plays. Despite the lack of information among people about the theatres, Gurukul has courageously begun the mission of taking theatre to the public. "We had begun with a pledge to run it for 3 to 4 years at any cost," says Sunil Pokhrel, Principal of the Gurukul Theatre School and director. The increasing trend of awareness adds confidence to the team implying that the theatres are here to stay for a long period.

Starting with the 'Fire in the Monastery', written by Professor of English at Tribhuwan University Dr. Abhi Subedi, the theatre shows one show a day in the evening. 'Fire in the monastery' is a symbolic presentation of the playwright of the woes he underwent through, when the library at the department of English was set ablaze by his own students, when he was the Head of the English Department at the University. Some of the other plays that have been staged here are Kathadesh, Anmaya and 'dreams of peach flower'.

Running with limited resources, perseverance of the theatre team has, made the performance and the impact of the shows no less than the shows put up by the best theatres in the world. Says Amita Garg, an American, "I used to watch theatres back in my country also. The theatres presented here are equally good."

The acting is very natural. No audience feels the sense of dramatization during the one to two hour shows at the theatre. The acting is also very lively. Everyone at the theatre is totally moved by every emotion of the characters in the play. In simple set ups, without much fancies, the team intends to give the effect of acting rather than flamboyantly setting up the stage.

Nepalese culture does not have a long history of theatres. Except in a very few ethnic communities, the theatre used to be a pet word for the Rana rulers who enjoyed it within the four walls of the palaces. The formal concept of theatres began merely 50 years ago, when Bal Krishna Sama - apparently inspired by Shakespeare started writing dramas, much later than the Shakespearean age - the golden age of theatre in Britain.

The theatre culture had started making very good progress in the late 1950s and early 60s when artistes like Shiva Shankar and Hari Prasad Rimal used to play in many dramas. Even during the 80s theaters attracted a lot of city residents. But with the advent of television age in the 1990s, theatre went downhill and was virtually extinct.

Although it has restarted with an encouraging trend, theatres have not embraced a total professional outlook, as yet. The Sama theatre is full with audience these days. While in its early days, the show used to be shown in empty halls. "Once, we have even performed with a mere two audience," recalls Sunil Pokhrel, who is himself a master drama artiste.

Likewise, over the past few months, after the celebration of the South Asian Theatre Festival, the nature of the audience has undergone an immense transformation. One of the regular viewers claimed that in the early days the audience used to be the same old faces for every play. Now, more and more new faces have started to come at the Gurukul premises everyday.

Although the number of theatre watchers has increased over the months, it has not been able to harness them to full potential. There is still a large group of people who would want to watch theatres lest there be a little more efforts in publicity.