On November 22, i.e. the sixth day of the festival, Artizani, Slovenia presented The Wiard of Oz directed by Irena Rajh Kunaver. The performance was a lively and colorful attempt to retell the well known story without text, and full of movement. On November 23, Kiss of the Spider Woman (directed by Deborah Merola) by The Ride across Lake Constance (USA) was performed. The play based on Manuel Puig’s celebrated novel, brought forth a section of the story of Argentina’s “Dirty War” in which thousands of people were either disappeared or killed by the right-wing military. Andre and Dorin directed by Inaki Rikarte (Kulunka Theatre Company, Spain) was performed on November 24, a play that explored the life of a lovely couple ultimately turned silent by Alzeimer. This exceptional production remained one of the audience’s favorite of the Festival. Nightwind (directed by B.J.Dodge) by ImaginAction, USA, was performed on November 25. A solo performance by Hector Aristizabol, it was based on his true story of being arrested and tortured by the US-supported military in Columbia. On the same day, Russian play Morphine by A Bird of Two Worlds (director: Andrey Spiridonov) was also performed, a play about the disintegration of the person under the influence of narcotic drugs. On November 26, Artists for Peace, UK, performed The Messenger: A Tribute to the Life and Spirit of Nina Simone (directed by Hazel Roy). A play with dialogues and songs, it told the sotry of Nina Simone’s development as a black woman artis int eh segregated world of America in the 1950s and 60s with her music providing a backdrop to the struggle of the Civil Rights Movement. On November 27, an Indian play, John Gabriel Borkman (directed by Anuradha Kapur) by Vivadi, New Delhi, was presented. The wonderful adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s play remained yet another audience’s favorite of the Festival. The trial of Wantong (directed by Chang Janaprakal Chandrung), a play by Moradokmai Theatre Troupe, Thailand was performed on November 28. This was a successful attempt to retell an ancient Thai story in a Brechtian style. On November 29, JSS Kalamandapa, Mysore, India, performed Chitrapata, a folk version of Ramayana, where Suparnakha returns as a childhood playmate and destroy’s Sita’s peace by making her portry a picture of Ravana, which makes Ram Suspect her chastity again. Centre for Asian Theatre, Bangladesh, on November 30, presented Kafka’s Metamorphosis (directed by Kamaluddin Nilu). An experimental production of the masterpiece, this play brought together the themes Gregor Samsa’s story, Kafka’s life, and the possibility of seeing all these things in a metaphorical light. Mass Foundation, Pakistan, performed Akhhiyan Walio (directed by Aamir Nawawz) on December 1, a story about the hypocrisy of the society which tried to show how people are blind to their rights and how blinds can see what people ‘with eyes’ cannot see. December 2 saw the performance of Opekkhoman (At the Threshhold) (directed by Ataur Rahman), a play by Nagorik Natya Sampradaya (Bangladesh). An experimental play, it intermingled Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and An Enemy of the People, and Syed Shamsul Haq’s acclaimed verse play, Irsha (jealousy), and brought together characters all of whom are lonely but believe in new transformation of life. On December 3, Shamayel, Iran, presented And Men Always Come Back Home (directed by Abdollah Barhasteh Yazdi). Based on the Sophoclean trilogy of Orestes, it narrated the story of hatred, vengeance Kathmandu International Theatre Festival 2012
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23 November to 7 December
and duty of a king, and tried to see it in the contemporary light. On December 4, Srijana Sewa Samity, Sikkim (India) performed Siddartha Gautam Dekhi Buddha Samma…Ek Yatra ( directed by Bipin Kumar).The play was an attempt to look at the conflict surrounding the Buddhist Sangha right from its day of inception. Prison directed by Kamaluddin Nilu, a production of Beaivvas: The National Sami Theatre, Norway was performed on December 5. A spellbinding solo performance by Anita Suikkari, the play told the story of a woman in dark prison cell. Suina Karnalika (directed by Sunil Pokharel) by Karnali Natya Samuha, Nepal was performed on December 6. In a dreamlike performance, the play presented Karnali as a region of possibilities and potentialities unlike the regular image of scarcity, poverty and disease. December 7, the last day of the festival, saw the performance of Colombo Colombo: The Story of Your Coffin (directed by Indika Fernando) by Theatre Plus, Srilanka. A tragic-comic experimental piece, it told the story of relationships in a war torn island. Each performance was followed by an interaction with the director and actors the following day. Apart from the theatre performances, the festival brought together other various activities. For instance, a musical concert “Melodies and Rhythm” by Sukarma, the popular folk-classical band of Nepal, was organized as a part of the festival on December 4. Similalry , a number of theatre workshops were organized during the festival, which gave Nepali actors and theatre practitioners an opportunity to learn from and interact with international experts and artists. These included “Master Class Workshop in Physical Theatre” by Adam Darius and Kazimir Kolesnik on November 18, “The Art of Transformation” by Ronald Rand on November 19, and workshops on the “Theatre of the Oppressed” by Hector Aristiaabal (November 26, 27, 28) and by Susan Quick and Anthony Mcgovern (November 29, 30 and December 1).
Summing Up One might need some more time to review the real output and contribution of the two editions of Kathmandu International Theatre Festival to the theatre fraternity in Nepal and elsewhere. But one can claim with assurance that it definitely has strengthened the networking of theatre groups in an international arena and promoted alliance among theatre artists. In addition to that, it also has helped immensely in exchanging diversity of styles and systems in theatre around the world, and in exploring the new idioms of theatre. As Aarohan-Gurukul readies itself to organize Kathmandu International Theatre Festival 2012, we look ahead with enthusiasm and anticipation to newer plays with newer styles and newer voices, plays that stimulate and challenge our thoughts, plays that force us to think and rethink everything all over, and, on top of all, plays that heal the wounds inflicted upon us in the distant and the recent past. – Prakash Subedi
(Note: Information and descriptions of the plays and performances discussed in this article have been compiled from the previous festival brochures and several issues of Nepathya, a theatre magazine published by Aarohan-Gurukul).
23 November to 7 December
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Kathmandu International Theatre Festival 2012