DHON CHOLECHA AND PEEDAGEET

Dhon Cholecha (29^th December 2014)

This is the first drama I have ever watched in the Shilpee Theater, Battisputali. There was a time for a cup of coffee before watching the play. It began at 4:45 pm sharp. The theater hall looked similar to other halls in Kathmandu. Once we entered inside, we could see a beautiful set –background of an old Newari house with a bardalee. Then the story unfolded.

The folk tale moved around a Newari family with a father, daughter, her stepmother and her daughter. The attitude of the stepmother towards her daughter was not that good because of which the latter suffered a lot. Her father and her half-sister were polite to her but were under the influence of her stepmother. In such scenario, her only friend was a she-goat whom she loved to be with and play with. As the title suggests, she is a wise goat. This goat is what the story moved around then.

Talking about other aspects in the drama, music and songs have been overused. Minimizing them would have made the drama much more beautiful. As it has been stated as a musical drama, use of songs might seem necessary. However, I agree to an audience who doubted if they related to the audience in any way. But I must say the main actor’s musical talent was terrific—soothing and melodious voice. Two musicians sitting next to the audience played well too.

The characters in the form of rat, goat and crow were amusing. Also, the setting of forests and sky looked beautiful. The clouds moving in the sky looked pleasing. The management of lights was good except for missing to hit at some cases. But the play had too many scenes within an hour. Audience might want to watch each scene for quite some time.

Nevertheless, trying to include different aspects of society to make it a play of all people rather than only a Newari folk drama is worth mentioning.

Peedageet (30^th December 2014)

This is a solo performance by Khagendra Lamicchane. He expresses his rural past to a bystander in a busy city area. He is a representative of typical Nepali affected by the civil war of Nepal. A victim of that decade, he struggles for his survival at present.

Clad in a simple outfit, with only a stick in his hand, the writer/director/actor is able to hold the breath of the audience many times in the show. The drama spellbinds the audience for 45 minutes through acting and emotional expression of a multitalented versatile Nepali actor. The play indeed sings a song of his grief.