On human nature

Sarwanam Theatre has staged numerous plays, directed by and starring seasoned actors who have spent many years in theatrical pursuits. It was therefore a refreshingly welcome change when the theatre troupe presented Mrigatrishna—a play written, produced, directed by, and starring a team of young enthusiasts, who were trained at Sarwanam over a period of two months at a theatre workshop that came to its end in early September.

The team of 11 students, all of whom act in the play, are the first batch of trainees produced by Sarwanaam, and Mrigatrishna is a concluding finale of sorts to all that was taught to the students over those two months. The play was staged at the Sarwanam premises in Kalikasthan at 5 pm everyday from September 22-25. Almost without dialogue (the play has only two of these) and beautifully executed, Mrigatrishna was a very successfully presented story; one that relied heavily on the physical movements and gestures of the actors on stage.

The play tells the tale of a village that existed in calm and peace before the arrival of a stranger changed it all. It acknowledges the unsatisfactory nature of human beings, and attempts to explore how this dissatisfaction leads to unhappiness in life.  One of the most obvious questions asked in the play is if modern technology and equipments have obviously made life easier, have they really been able to bring satisfaction to human lives?

Mrigatrishna answers this question by pointing towards how people are turning more selfish and hence more depressed with the passing of time. The many attractive elements of modern technology that the stranger brings along with him to the village lure its innocent inhabitants; their fascination with, and desire for, these objects becomes so strong that these once happy villagers turn into evil, dissatisfied creatures whose greed and desire are hard to satiate. The inhabitants destroy their village; plundering its natural resources for infrastructural development, and ultimately transforming their once beautiful village to into a concrete jungle. 

The immensely talented trainee team was made up of Ambika Nepali, Khemraj Bhandari, Dipankar Shrestha Tamang, Dikhsya Shah. Prakash Nepal, Pujan Lamichhane, Pradeep Shahi, Basanta Bhandari, Binita Thapa, Shyam Karki, and Shishir Aryal. And despite this being their first ever theatrical venture, Mrigratrishna was as good, if not better, than other plays presented at theatres around Kathmandu by professional troupes.

The training the group received at Sarwanam has obviously honed their skills, encouraging them to explore all aspects of theatre; from acting, direction and production, to light and sound design, and stage setting. Their hard-work and effort were clearly discernible on the stage. One of the best things about the play, in fact, was its background music. The score, composed by the students themselves, was very relevant to the story, added to its meaning, and made the entire production very engaging. Even the dance sequences in-between were quite interesting to watch. The physical and mental effort the team put into the play certainly did not go unnoticed.

Audiences applauded the effort. Student Reshma Shrestha, who was among the audience, said something that might very well be a common consensus on Mrigatrishna, “I liked the play very much. It must have been a difficult task to come up with something like this; a play where you have to make people understand you through physical movements and gestures.”