Kathmandu:

What Sunil Pokharel has done for theatre in Nepal is truly amazing.” Directors whose plays have been staged make it a point to say this after their plays have been staged. And it holds so true, as every day since the Kathmandu International Theatre Festival began on November 11, Gurukul has seen a stream of audiences pouring in each day. And on November 19, it was proven even more true as the seats of the newly opened Rastriya Nachghar were fully occupied to watch Nati Binodini, a play performed by Theatre and Television Associates, New Delhi.

The play was really intense and powerful, be it in terms of script writing, dialogues, direction to acting. All the elements were equally compelling. Directed by Amal Allana, this play is based on the actor Nati Binodini’s autobiography Aamar Katha. The story of a woman Nati Binodini who is born into a family of ‘kept’ women, joins the world of theatre, the fame she receives and the upheavals she faces along the way form the play. Different characters on stage portrayed different facets of Binodin’s life, and the way the dialogues are delivered, the way it smoothly moved from one to another and the story goes forward was carried out quite effectively. The emotions brought out by the actors was truly amazing, from feelings of happiness as an immature young girl to feeling the shock of loosing your own identity and beliefs that you held onto more strongly than anything else were emoted really well. At times it seemed like the audience could feel the pain and trauma the women felt. However, it was those moments where after all the sacrifices and compromises the feeling of empowerment that the woman felt which was very strongly portrayed. Though a serious play at times the comedy that was incorporated was done beautifully too.

The sets though not very elaborate the effective means by which the backgrounds were created and changed brought in a whole new dimension to the scenes. And it was definitely the music from soulful songs to dominant tunes that added so much more vivacity to the play.

The Kathmandu Theatre festival continues till November 27 at Gurukul.