Theresa Rebeck’s 1992 script What We’re Up Against has been translated by Priyankar and directed by Akanchha Karki of Katha Ghera as Play द सिस्टम . The play shows a not uncommon experience of female employees in offices in Nepal.Namita is a young talented architect newly hired at a prestigious firm who is exasperated by lazy colleagues who hide their incompetence behind workplace politics.&nbsp; Played with panache by Ranjana Bhattarai, Namita is eager to work on projects, but her boss Sailesh (Eelum Dixit) is a scotch-swigging manipulative control freak who does not assign her anything because he is threatened by her competence.&nbsp; Namita is consigned to a converted storage room, while Pankaj Basyal (Rishikesh Basyal) has a much better location for his desk despite being even newer than Namita. Basyal is a sloppy grifter who makes pompous, long-winded presentations and curries favour with Sailesh by keeping the whiskey flowing.&nbsp; The office is involved in a big project to restore a mall in Lalitpur. Basyal is on the project, as is Biswas (Suraj Malla). Biswas understands what is going on behind the scenes between fellow staffers and is concerned about a piping problem that is delaying the project.&nbsp; The fifth person in the office is Chahana (Roshani Syangbo) who is not much of an architect but keeps her job by playing a ditzy simpering damsel who seconds anything the men say.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240626120620_60a615435151b3721e96bacb1bef4063596bbfc5203dc65a9c4298877f89fca0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240626120620_60a615435151b3721e96bacb1bef4063596bbfc5203dc65a9c4298877f89fca0" data-rendition-name="original" width="5516" height="3677" loading="lazy" alt="Play the system"> </figure>  The deadline for the mall is looming and the only person with the solution is Namita. Sick of being underestimated and overlooked, she brings a design supposedly by Basyal to Sailesh, who initially okays it. But after finding out it was hers, he trashes it.&nbsp; Sailesh is incensed at Namita’s trick, and throws her out before putting Chahana on the project instead. Yet Namita is following Sailesh’s advice: to get work, you must show initiative.&nbsp; So Namita takes up a project Chahana has just about abandoned to modify a court building. Her pitch to the team is imaginative and focused on meeting the client’s demands.&nbsp; Sailesh uses his status and corporate doublespeak to dominate the meeting, and bully Namita. Humiliated, Namita confronts Chahana who sided with Sailesh in the meeting and the two have a row. Brilliantly acted, the scenes are a realistic portrayal of office hierarchy with gender politics also thrown in that gets in the way of getting work done. People want credit but do not want to work for it.&nbsp; The men cannot stand Namita because they all know she is a better architect. They describe her as difficult to work with and whiney. But they are fine with docile, unthreatening Chahana. However, she too is scared of the notion that she might soon have to play sidekick to Namita. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240626120624_a694966f0f4ff4a53c36f81ee7b646078720234812a86a1232e6b95edcec4a86.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240626120624_a694966f0f4ff4a53c36f81ee7b646078720234812a86a1232e6b95edcec4a86" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1431" loading="lazy" alt="Play the system"> <figcaption>Photo: TUPHAN JUNG THAPA</figcaption> </figure>  In a final act of rebellion, Namita ‘plays the system’ of egos to push a flawed design through Chahana to Sailesh, letting Chahana take credit. As Sailesh presents the imperfect plan to the firm’s founder, Biswas has found out what happened and comes to Namita’s office to talk, only to find her packing up, expecting to soon be fired. The two agree to talk about the piping problem over dinner.&nbsp; The play ends abruptly right here, leaving us guessing what happens to Namita. Bristling with swear-words, this is a tense, angry play, but has a light-hearted tone. The message seems to be that women can either be like Chahana, not getting in anyone’s way to keep her job. They will keep her, but have to squander her talent and self respect. Maybe Chahana was once competent too, but is now too jaded and resigned to her fate. Or, they can be like Namita. Confident and competent, and hence perceived as a threat. Many men do not like admitting that another man is better in their profession. But when it comes to women, their ego is hurt and they seek petty ways to get their own back.&nbsp; Sailesh refers to Namita as a “ball-crusher” (the word sounds pithier in Nepali). But if they looked around it would be clear why they are getting left behind: they drink too much, are easily flattered, and have too much time to backbite. They engage in many of the same behaviours that they may jeer at as feminine, such as gossip and hysteria.&nbsp; One scene in particular demonstrates this hypocrisy. Sailesh and Basyal are drinking in Sailesh’s office, a den of toxic masculinity. They make abusive remarks about Namita, but not once in the play do the two actually do any work.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240626120624_3349985b6341a7913c6030f1f8b5c142e39e86420ee429a3eeed2126e54e9ef2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240626120624_3349985b6341a7913c6030f1f8b5c142e39e86420ee429a3eeed2126e54e9ef2" data-rendition-name="original" width="4166" height="2777" loading="lazy" alt="Play the system"> </figure>  Suddenly Namita invades the scene and Basyal cowers pathetically in his chair, not meeting her eye. Namita pours herself some of the whiskey (gasp) and downs it straight before threatening to go to the founder. &nbsp; While Biswas is smart enough to figure out what is going on, he does not &nbsp;have the courage to stand up to Sailesh, or ask Namita for the solution, or “do the right thing”.&nbsp; Rebeck’s script came out in 1992, and 32 years later it still transcends time and space, and is a relatable and realistic depiction of the workplace anywhere. This a universal, perennial issue, and the play can also be taken as a call to maturity in gender relations. &nbsp; The play runs smooth as it uses one big set throughout, lighting up where the action takes place. In the centre is the presentation table and to the left and right are Chahana and Namita’s offices. Overlooking everything up a staircase is Sailesh’s office. The original script is in English, and it adapts well to a sort of Nepali-English hybrid dialogue that would feel natural to the Nepali Times readership. Rebeck curses quite liberally in the original English script, but the adaptation is a bit too generously sprinkled with colloquial Nepali swear words. It certainly has shock value and brings laughs.&nbsp; Kausi Theater, Lagan Every day except Tuesday till 15 July Time: &nbsp;5:15PM, &nbsp;Matinee show on Saturdays at 1PM Front row: Rs1,000&nbsp; General tickets: Rs500 Contact: 9861078876

Vishad Raj Onta

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Hate the game, not the player

A couple enter the third decade of marriage even as their eldest daughter finds herself trapped in a failing one. The son doesn’t want to be hitched, while the youngest daughter is enthusiastic about her upcoming arranged marriage. On the stage of Kausi Theatre this is a microcosm of marriages in contemporary Nepal, acted out in a two-hour play.&nbsp; Bidushi (Ranjana Bhattarai), the youngest daughter of Rukmani (Loonibha Tuladhar) and Krishna Koirala (Aashant Sharma), is getting married to a man based in the US, a person she has never seen before.&nbsp; The family has come together for the wedding, with Hema (Kenipa Singh Pahari) making the trip from Australia to be part of the celebration. Her husband, still in Australia, is not in touch with her.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230927070944_976c38a2cdcdb1e91bc42c946991002f583d9943678fb287d4e11fe4c4a5529f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20230927070944_976c38a2cdcdb1e91bc42c946991002f583d9943678fb287d4e11fe4c4a5529f" data-rendition-name="original" width="960" height="640" loading="lazy" alt="Wedding Album"> </figure>  Amid wedding preparations, their sibling Rohit (Sudam Ck) tries to reconcile his own relationship with his girlfriend to the other marriage proposals coming his way. Meanwhile, Rukmani and Krishna’s own 30-year marriage is tainted by Krishna’s past abuse of his wife.&nbsp; There is added tension in the home because of the strained relationship between Rukmani and Kusum Didi, the Koiralas’ housekeeper. &nbsp; Wedding Album is directed by Katha Ghera co-founder Akanchha Karki, who also adapted the play into Nepali from Indian actor and dramatist Girish Karnad’s 2011 play originally written in Kannada, which Karnad translated into English himself.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230927070916_c512eec6955be86eed0064de5a3cfd944f0ce20a2fc12804421610eb9f2555fc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20230927070916_c512eec6955be86eed0064de5a3cfd944f0ce20a2fc12804421610eb9f2555fc" data-rendition-name="original" width="960" height="959" loading="lazy" alt="Akanchha Karki NT"> <figcaption>Director Akanchha Karki. Photo: AKANCHHA KARKI/FACEBOOK</figcaption> </figure>  Against the backdrop of the various conjugal conflicts, director Karki gets the cast to tackle issues including mental health, misogyny, domestic abuse, sexual violence, self-worth, and the female psyche. As individual stories and hidden truths of each of the family members unfold, Karki weaves these issues through their interaction with each other—showing how each personality constantly contradict itself. &nbsp; For instance, Bidushi is headstrong, outspoken, progressive, sexually liberated. She confronts men who sexually assault her in a cafe. Yet she is ready to be married off to someone she has never met. She is unable to understand why her sister is in an unhappy marriage.&nbsp; Hema lives with her family in Australia but is not more tolerant. She still disapproves of her brother’s Christian girlfriend. She is aware, but silent about her father’s abuse of her mother. Even as she tells her sister that it is okay to leave the relationship if she is not happy with her soon-to-be partner, she struggles to comprehend that she could leave her own crumbling marriage.&nbsp; Middle child Rohit plays the ideal, responsible, long-suffering son fending off unwanted marriage proposals. But his personality is transformed once out of the home. He also agrees that his sister Bidushi should leave her husband if the relationship breaks down, but mistreats his own girlfriend.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230927070944_f35d97f6b552b5698ee333662acce965465e704fb9d1d7463b4ef91dbea739bf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20230927070944_f35d97f6b552b5698ee333662acce965465e704fb9d1d7463b4ef91dbea739bf" data-rendition-name="original" width="960" height="640" loading="lazy" alt="Wedding Album"> </figure>  The Koiralas are educated and ‘liberal’, but still willing to marry off their daughter to someone they have not met before. They are not impervious to the inherent wastefulness and spectacle of extravagant South Asian weddings meant to show off wealth, rather than a contained celebration of love. The strength of the play lies in its cast. LoonibhaTuladhar and Ashanta Sharma are brilliant as Rukmani and Krishna, while Kenipa Singh, Sudam Ck, and RanjanaBhattarai hold their own as the three siblings. The supporting cast is solid, if a bit melodramtic at times.&nbsp; The clever staging and set design enhance the production. Director Karki does not employ unnecessary movement just for the sake of covering the entire stage. A particularly poignant scene sees Rukmani and Krishna at opposite ends of the stage, their anger palpable. Meanwhile, props and music have been used sparingly. As the end of the play approaches, there are a lot of loose ends in the stories of the siblings and parents. Perhaps as in life itself.&nbsp; Wedding Album will play at Kausi Theatre in Teku until 14 October.

Marriage drama

<figure><img width="2048" height="1365" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111132/637219589c7e80680e0baa93jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>All Photos: JYOTI SIMHA THAKURI</figcaption></figure>How best to describe Peter Handke’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Ride-Across-Lake-Constance" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Ride Across Lake Constance</a>, produced by <a href="https://owtnepal.org/productions/ride-across-lake-constance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">One World Theatre</a> and performed at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MandalaTheatreNepal" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mandala</a> in Kathmandu?The audience sits quietly in a dark room, when light creeps in slowly and falls upon three people on stage, dressed in what appear like some daydream of an indeterminate past. They speak in turns of a legendary horseman who rides across the frozen Lake Constance without knowing. This could be 1795, 1830, 1880 or 1963. They continue: And when he learns what he did, what he risked unwittingly and accomplished, he dies of fright.The horseman died not from any real cause, but wholly under the crushing weight of an unfamiliar realisation. He could not comprehend what he had done. Lake Constance, you see, is the third largest freshwater lake by surface area (536 km2) in Central and Western Europe and has the maximum depth of 251m. For reference, Rara Lake in Karnali has the maximum depth of 167m.As the narration unfolds, the horseman rides down the aisle of the theatre past rows of the bemused audience, and sits on a chair, arms crossed before him. So far: the story seems coherent, but then again, it has barely been few minutes into the play.The three characters leave at the end of the prologue, to be replaced by two more. The room is elegant, with a staircase at the back. A large painting of a peacock is bordered by an art-deco door frame. Another painting hangs next to it: most likely of the eponymous Lake Constance. A giant chessboard piece, rook by the looks of it, sits on one side, and immediately across from it stands a coat-hanger. <img width="2048" height="1365" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111132/6372195b9c7e80680e0baa94jpeg.jpg" alt="">Emil Jannings dozes off on a chair while a person of ambiguous gender identity, wearing a hoop petticoat, vacuums and removes dust covers. Enters Heinrich George and soon he and Jannings begin talking.What is the conversation about? Now, that is an interesting question, especially as The Ride Across Lake Constance, in all fairness and right off the bat, is all dialogue and no straight plot. Jannings and George talk about rognons flambés, about semantics and morphologies, about dreams and desires. At one point, the discussion turns to rings and their round shapes.Then a few moments later the three people return, each clad in flowing garbs of aristocracy, military and sensuality. There is a frenetic exchange of kinks. Violence is confronted. The man shows a magic trick. Everyone runs about, then sings and dances, and never stops talking.“Words, words, words,” said Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play, and that is exactly how this play sounds. While there is no direct reference to Hamlet’s apparent nihilism in Lake Constance (although existentialism is a major theme here) another Shakespeare character does indeed pop by when Jannings quotes The Comedy of Errors:Am I in earth, in heaven, or in hell? Sleeping or waking, mad or well-advised? Known unto these, and to myself disguised: Am I transformed, master, am not I?Perhaps, one could also call Lake Constance a comedy of errors. There is one scene where Tweedledum and Tweedledee appear – mistaken identity, says one, jumping too quickly – but its punchline is the audience as much as are the characters, who then continue to banter profusely. <figure><img width="960" height="640" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111132/6372195e9c7e80680e0baa95jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Photo: SUSHIL TAMANG</figcaption></figure>But the errors in the play are not how one understands mistakes. These characters, named after real actors, play a game which constantly oscillates between the overwhelming realms of meaning and non-meaning. They wear and take off masks, confusing each other, the audience, and above all: themselves.Props, when they change hands, also change their connotations – which is best reflected in the fact that the stage stays the same throughout, like an objective reality. Only the people come in and leave, only the people move.  Each dialogue opens massive freight trains of ontological unease. Consciousness is called to question, as are memories and dreams. The characters, themselves reminiscent of Sartre’s foursome in hell, recount histories that may or may not have happened. They play with each other, act jealous, violent, naughty and nasty, all the while wondering the same question: Am I dreaming or am I speaking?Then the audience asks in turn: Where is the line? The viewers and the view stare at each other, paused, and something unspeakable and inexplicable transpires in between.Kavita Srinivasan, who plays Elisabeth Bergner, gives a striking analogy for this exchange: “When you are in a mirror maze, a reflection you see sees you in turn.” This makes us wonder who we are and what we are doing, she adds, lending to the cycle of trying to give our lives and ourselves meaning. <img width="2048" height="1365" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111132/637219619c7e80680e0baa96jpeg.jpg" alt="">But no one meaning will ever satisfy the multifaceted thirst of our lives and experiences. And often the rules of rationality clash with inherent irrationalities. “There is so much madness,” Srinivasan says, “one must acknowledge it without judgement.” Deborah Merola’s direction is impeccable, which brings out the best from her actors. The ensemble of Srinivasan, Rajkumar Pudasaini, Aashant Sharma, Bijay Tamrakar, Ranjana Bhattarai, Saroj Aryal and Sandeep Dangol engages in a collaborative fever dream of abstract acting and playacting, like games of Truth or Dare, while some slurred speeches add to the stupor – all without missing a beat. As such, the odd and exasperating Lake Constance is only so at the outset. In fact, beneath the grotesque symposium of phenomenological quandary, the avant-garde play is wildly entertaining. The audience watches compulsively, as the characters gaze in and out, much to an absurdist delight. THE RIDE ACROSS LAKE CONSTANCE by Peter Handke, directed by Deborah Merola Mandala Theatre Nepal Final show on Sunday, 29 May 2022 at 5:30pm Book your ticket <a href="https://bookings.mandalatheatre.com/view-drama/the-ride-across-lake-constance">here</a>.

No exit from Lake Constance

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161144/636d1c849c7e80680e0af364jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1366"/><figcaption>All photos: MONIKA DEUPALA</figcaption></figure>The Great Animal Revolt begins at Teku’s Kausi Theater with a pig’s rousing speech calling for revolution against a human oppressor.As Old Major the pig (played by Aayush Niroula) delivers his call to arms, other animals in the farm snort, neigh, bleat and cluck in righteous rage and indignation — the farm’s human owner has oppressed them for long enough, and they will tolerate it no more.As the farm animals unite, driving out their stumbling drunk of a human owner. The pigs (Kepoleon, SB, and Chaaplus are the Nepali versions of Napoleon, Snowball and Squealer) take charge, promising the other animals a ‘Prosperous Farm, Happy Animals’. The line seems to be straight out of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/oli-vs-dahal-1-upmanship/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal Communist Party</a>’s 2018 slogan of ‘stability and prosperity’.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161144/636d1c879c7e80680e0af365jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1380"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161144/636d1c8a9c7e80680e0af366jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1366"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161144/636d1c8e9c7e80680e0af367jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1366">Theatre collective Katha Ghera’s <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/finding-george-orwell-in-burma-emma-larkin,1432" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Animal Farm</a> is directed by its co-founder Akanchha Karki, who also adapted the play in Nepali from Prashant Kumar Nair’s English dramatisation of Orwell’s 1945 classic.Karki has made the play relevant to the current Nepali milieu in 2021, infusing the original source with relevant commentary on the country’s socio-political climate.“I was privileged having been raised in Kathmandu. As I grew up, I became aware of the society around me, and I felt the wrath of injustice, which I channeled into this play,” says Karki. “Rage is an important feeling.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/oli-vs-dahal-1-upmanship/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The price of a kiss</a>, Ashish DhakalWhat is most striking about the play is Karki’s deviation from Orwell’s original source material to include female voices and experiences in the play. Snowball, for example, as SB is female, and played by Ojaswi Bhattarai. She is the idealistic pig eventually cast out from the farm by Kepoleon when her ideas begin to threaten him.And the sheep, played by Sebita Adhikari, are not stereotyped as just followers,  she is in fact the only character throughout the play who has the gumption to leadership, fully knowing the repercussions of her actions.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161144/636d1c919c7e80680e0af368jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1366"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161144/636d1c959c7e80680e0af369jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1366"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161144/636d1c989c7e80680e0af36ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1366">“It is definitely a criticism of the original work,” says Karki, speaking about her choice to characterise some original characters as female. “I have often felt that women are driven away, suppressed, gas-lit and considered a threat — much like like SB was in the play — when trying to lead, or have an opinion because their ideas are brighter and bigger than others in the room. The characters are a reflection of those shared experiences.”The same goes for Mala the mare who is more than the self-indulgent, vain Mollie from <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/ministry-of-alternative-facts-1984,3662" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Orwell’s original</a>. She is, ultimately, the only character that has agency in the play: leaving the farm of her own free will after directly addressing the audience. This is a critique also of Orwell’s shortcomings in his characterisation of her as a weak-willed female.The play is also infused with moments of hilarity, largely through Rishikesh Basyal’s enthusiastic performance as Kepoleon’s mouthpiece Chaaplus. Basyal’s delivery of the now-familiar line “Sneeze a few times, drink some turmeric water, and drive the virus away” when the animals panic about <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/do-nepalis-need-covid-booster-shots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">an epidemic</a> sweeping through neighbouring farms is relevant and inspired.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161144/636d1c9b9c7e80680e0af36bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1366"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Ingi Hopo Koinch Sunuwar and Ojaswi Bhattarai are memorable as the power-hungry Kepoleon and idealistic SB respectively, and Roshani Syangbo, Prayash Bantawa Rai, Binita Lama Gurung, and Sebita Adhikari turn in earnest performances as the three horses (Bhakta, Malati, and Mala) and the sheep respectively.“Why is it so difficult to remember why we began, and how we ended up here?” asks Malati the mare towards the end. By this time, the animals have fully realised what the play has been moving towards all along — that all animals are equal, but some are indeed more equal than others.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/all-the-world-is-a-stage-in-kathmandu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">All the world is a stage in Kathmandu</a>, Sewa Bhattarai“The play is a reflection of the fact that in each of us there could be a power-hungry pig, or a blindly follower horse, or a donkey who knows something is wrong but refuses to speak up about it,” says Karki. “Sometimes it is due to convenience, sometimes it is fear, sometimes it is indifference.”The director adds, “I hope the play can contribute in some way to how we as a society can be more empathetic and compassionate towards the world around us.”Animal Farm will play at Kausi Theatre in Teku until 18 December 2021.

Shristi Karki

‘Prosperous Farm, (Un)happy Animals’

<figure><img width="1920" height="1080" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d14949c7e80680e0a9984jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>All photos: Bijay Tamrakar/One World Theatre</figcaption></figure>Sara and Callie are taking a walk late at night through the West Village. They have just been out at a bar and the night is young. Against the colourful high-rise of bricks and windows projected onto plywood screens, they give into the whirlwind of emotions long overdue and they kiss.Enter an angry bystander (this is New York, after all) and what could have been the best night of their lives turns into an ugly nightmare. He attacks the two lovers violently, and Sara suffers injuries that sends her into coma.This is where American playwright Diana Son’s Stop Kiss begins (we don't exactly know when the attack has happened: is it before the start of the play or after the first scene?), and it is being staged 23 years later at Shilpee Theatre in Battisputali. Directed by <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=438#.YaSLftBByUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Loonibha Tuladhar</a> and presented by One World Theatre (OWT) with support from the US Embassy, the revival is an English-language adaptation.This is perhaps the first play staged in Nepal in recent times, and one of the first to focus on queer women. The premier on 25 November coincided with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Kiss" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the play</a> will run till 4 December to overlap with  16 days of activism. <img width="2120" height="1192" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d14979c7e80680e0a9985jpeg.jpg" alt="">Mitini Nepal estimates that 38% of lesbians and 62% of transgenders in Nepal continue to face violence in Nepal. Recently, countries like South Korea and Japan have used the Covid-19 pandemic as a ruse to discriminate against <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16160#.YaSMndBByUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the LGBTQ+ community</a>. The situation in Nepal is not any better. Discrimination aside, people who belong to the LGBTQ+ spectrum have few safe spaces to open up, and feel comfortable in their own skin.But, surely, for many young progressives today, the play might appear demure or too gentle. “There isn’t enough sex,” one might say. Or “Why are there no mobile phones, so much of the trouble could have been avoided with a mobile phone!” After all, in the two decades since the play was first produced, much has changed in the world.But a lot remains the same. Stop Kiss is not merely a lesbian play from the 1990s North America. It is also a reminder that despite vicious attacks and protests the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Night-and-%20Day,3145" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">LGBTQ+</a> movement around the world today has reached a point where its members can consider getting married, holding hands and expressing themselves. <img width="2120" height="1192" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d149b9c7e80680e0a9986jpeg.jpg" alt="">And it is even more important in a country like Nepal where progress is incremental, and the reminder is encouragement to fight for one’s right to love without judgement and violence. Tuladhar and Kavita Srinivasan’s co-direction and the cast of Stop Kiss do not shy away from this scope and significance of their stage production.Tuladhar admits she was nervous at first, unsure whether she was right for the role. “But violence against women and the queer community in our society takes many forms, and often it is quiet and we don't even realise that we are being violent,” she says. “The play felt important and necessary because through it people can reflect and make their voices heard.”The show's co-director, Kavita Srinivasan echoes this. “Even now many women and queer people are not comfortable going out alone, especially at night,” she says. “But why should we have to fear to exist in our own society?” <figure><img width="2048" height="1368" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d149e9c7e80680e0a9987jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Ranjana Bhattarai and Samapika Gautam shine as Callie and Sara, their chemistry natural and profound. Bhattarai plays Callie’s New York ‘up in the air’ traffic news reporter like a dancer who listens to the music rather than only memorise the steps. Gautam is the perfect counterpart, as grounded and methodical as Sara, a third-grade teacher.The two women are riotous together – they dance, laugh and yell, their hands make wide gestures as they try to wordlessly communicate the stirrings in their hearts, perhaps felt by both for the first time. There is also tension between them, as they do not know the right thing to say or to do.But Bhattarai and Gautam convince us that in their apparent differences is touching resonance. Both intense and hilarious, they carry the entire emotional weight of the play in their performances, going from unsure awkwardness of new acquaintances to wild, gushing nervousness of first-time lovers. <img width="2120" height="1192" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d14a19c7e80680e0a9988jpeg.jpg" alt="">The supporting cast is also impressive. Gaurav Bista is perfect as the agonisingly heterosexual George, Callie’s on-and-off boyfriend. <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2014/09/09/blood-and-mud/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Loonibha Tuladhar</a> steals the scenes as Mrs Winsley who witnesses the attack on the protagonists. Anahita Sarabhai is excellent as the Nurse, and Sushrut Acharya as Detective Cole and Bruno Deceukelier as Peter make the most of the few scenes they have.But the real stars of the show are certainly the relentless crew-members, who have the toughest job at Shilpee every night: making sure everything looks seamless on stage and nothing falls over and breaks during the countless scene changes. The story is told out of order, so it unfolds in sets of ‘before’ and ‘after’ the attack.The set design is aptly minimalist and modern, and the soundtrack of hit 90’s tracks (think Cyndi Lauper’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIb6AZdTr-A" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Girls Just Wanna Have Fun</a>) adds to the whole ‘concrete jungle where dreams are made’ vibe of New York.While the shadow of the altercation looms large, crass and imposing, and the play has much in common with a Greek tragedy – the violence happens off-stage and there is a sense of foreboding throughout (we find out about the attack and the coma very early on). <img width="2120" height="1192" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d14a59c7e80680e0a9989jpeg.jpg" alt="">But Stop Kiss is far from the stereotype of sad and fatal <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Finding-refuge-in-cyberspace,3146" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">LGBTQ+</a> stories that either end in death or separation. Instead, it is open-hearted, warm and determined to impact audiences of all ages and background.“While the physical, external violence forms the backbone of the play, there is also a second kind at play here, borne of shame, judgement and discrimination,” adds Srinivasan: “Hopefully the play will create momentum for conversations to make our society truly inclusive, not just in plans and speech but also in action.”Stop Kiss is playing at Shilpee Theatre in Battisputali until 4 December 2021. Runtime is 2 hours and 10 minutes with no intermission.Tickets: Rs500 and Rs700 for front-row seats9861053015/stopkiss@owtnepal.orgShowtimes: 5:30PM, with an additional 1PM show on 4 December.

Ashish Dhakal

The price of a kiss

<img width="1500" height="1083" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110814114/636a54889c7e80680e0523b4jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Lee and Austin are brothers who don’t seem to have much in common. Austin is a cultured man with an Ivy League degree trying to make it as a screenplay writer. Lee is a wanderer who lives in the shadows. But when they come together in a difficult situation, it seems they are not different at all: each brims with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-roots-of-rape/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">toxic masculinity</a>.Nepal-based director <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/08/23/bhagvad-gita-as-opera/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Deborah Merola</a> has chosen to stage this Pulitzer-nominated 1980 play by American playwright Sam Shepard without translation or much adaptation. You can Google the plot, spoilers and all, but we are just going to tell you that Austin suddenly stands to lose his dreams, despite his superior education and manners. And Lee, though on the brink of gaining everything, knows he cannot make it without his brother’s refined education. And so the brothers blame each other for their plight and battle it out, with an alcoholic father and a passive mother added to the mix.Brothers envying one another is familiar to most of us: while Lee thinks that Austin — with his fancy degree and a foothold in Hollywood — is living the glamorous life, Austin thinks that Lee is a daredevil racking up new adventures every day.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/the-violence-of-violation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The violence of violation</a>, Sewa BhattaraiThis intense drama simmers with an undercurrent of violence that threatens to explode. And sitting in the present, we cannot help remind ourselves of masculinity today — that however much things change, they remain the same. Lee’s desire to dominate everyone around him is an obvious example but so is Austin, whose manners are a mere veneer for what lies underneath.“This drama is relevant today in the era of Donald Trump, when toxic male machismo is on the rise,” Merola tells us after a rehearsal this week at Kausi Theatre.Perhaps because of its contemporary resonance, the drama is enjoying a revival today with a recent Broadway production starring Ethan Hawke and another starring <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/game-of-thrones-familiar-to-nepalis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Game of Thrones</a> protagonist Kit Harington. Set in the US 30 years ago, it is considered a quintessentially American play, but the cast here feel that it has universal resonance today.“We in Nepal think the grass is greener on the other side, and many of us go abroad with great expectations. But often what awaits is disillusionment,” says Divya Dev, who plays the younger Austin. Dreams can come crashing down any time and when that happens, Austin has nothing to hold on to, and reverts to base instincts.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/hop-over-the-gender-gap/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hop over the gender gap</a>, Reeti K.C.Alejandro Merola, who is menacing as the older Lee, feels every well-written drama has a wide resonance. “The lone alcoholic who slowly drifts out of respectable social circles and lives a criminal life on the edges is a universal character,” he says. “The play reminds us that there is an increase in such characters today.”Eelum Dixit has a powerful stage presence as the easily manipulated producer Saul who doesn’t speak up against bullies, and Kurchi Dasgupta makes an impact as the lost, possibly depressed, mother who stays indifferent even as her sons fight. Divya Dev is at his best as the melancholy Austin, who appears a gentleman but is full of passive aggression. Alejandro Merola frightens us with his outright hostility until he makes an unbelievable transformation.The drama is a stark portrayal of the unrealistic standards of success that modern society demands, and of the loss of simplicity and innocence. We see these mores manifesting now in Nepal, as well. Says Kurchi Dasgupta, who plays the mother: “Even though it is set in a particular time and place and has a distinctly American feel, you can draw allegories to the current time.” True WestKausi Theatre, Teku6-15 Sept

Replaying male machismo

<figure><img width="1920" height="1280" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a27099c7e80680e043a4djpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Salil Subedi performs a coneptual piece depicting environmental activism at the inauguration of Nepal International Theatre Festival 2019. </figcaption></figure>“A girl doesn’t need a master’s degree, I have found a headmaster for you instead.”Thus starts Rape Machine, a play in which actress Diya Maskey gets married off with a chain around her neck instead of a garland of flowers. Later as she travels in a public bus, she is sprayed with white foam – an allusion to women being molested on public transport. Later, volunteers walk down the aisle handing out candy, each of which is wrapped in a message about violence against women: ‘Today it is her, tomorrow it could be you.’ Or ‘Don’t tell me how to dress, tell them not to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/four-fold-increase-in-reported-rape-in-10-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rape</a>.’The opening performance at the Nepal International Theatre Festival 2019 at Mandala Theatre in Kathmandu on Monday was emblematic of everything that characterises Nepali theatre today: realistic, hard-hitting stories and experimental storytelling.The Festival is the first festival of its kind with all of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/all-the-men-and-women-merely-players/">Kathmandu’s theatres</a> taking part. Over this week, 30 plays from nine countries are being performed in four theatres: Theatre Mall in Kirtipur, Kausi Theatre in Teku, Shilpee Theatre in Battisputali, and Mandala Theatre in Anamnagar.“We used to see such festivals all over the world, and longed to have one in Nepal too,” says Rajan Khatiwada, festival director. “Considering the rise in interest in theatre in Nepal, it was high time Nepali performers showcased their popularity by coming up with an inclusive, large scale festival.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/all-the-men-and-women-merely-players/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">All the men and women merely players</a>, Sewa Bhattarai <figure><img width="1920" height="1280" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a270c9c7e80680e043a4ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The festival is proof that Nepali theatre has come of age. The drama scene is booming with new theatres coming up every year, plenty of media attention and a growing number of viewers. Theatre is the basis for learning all other art forms since it includes storytelling, painting, set design, costumes, visual arts, sound, performance.Across the world, actors start from theatre because it is the place to hone their stagecraft. Nepali actors from Saroj Khanal in the past to Dayahang Rai today made it big in movies after starting out in theatre. Most artists credit Sunil Pokharel who established Gurukul Theatre in the 1990s with pioneering modern theatre in Nepal.Theatre is also popular because it is telling stories that Nepali cinema usually does not. “Our theatre is very different from the formulaic storytelling of cinemas,” explains festival adviser Anup Baral. “We try to look for and tell stories that reflect our current society, which audience do not get anywhere else.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/children-on-stage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Children on stage</a>, Sewa BhattaraiTheatre therefore attracts a select class of audience that wants to go beyond masala entertainment. “The audience of theatres and cinemas are very different,” says actor Dayahang Rai. “While cinema is created for a mass audience, theatre is created for more thoughtful viewers who appreciate nuanced storytelling. Our crowd is mostly young students with intellectual curiosity.”The vibrancy in Nepal’s theatre scene also reflects a society in ferment, coming out of a brutal war, a decade of instability and hopes of a revolution dashed. Visual and performance artist Ashmita Ranjit believes there is a burst of creativity in the theatre scene in Kathmandu. “There is a lot of experimentation going on and this festival has also shown remarkable solidarity among the theatres who have come together to organise it.”Indeed, Ranjit herself is one of the experimenters in performance art where artists perform as themselves rather than characters. Along with musician Salil Subedi, she performed at the opening of the festival. While Subedi lay buried in the ground and slowly made music with a singing bowl, Ranjit brought him out of the earth, and together they took a fishbowl full of water and sprayed it at the audience.Read also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1140#.XHVZxJMzYnU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Real life drama</a>, Abha Eli Phobo<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16216#.XHVZwpMzYnU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The theatre of life</a>, CK LalExplains Subedi: “The performance symbolised the fact that we all come from the earth. Inflicting physical pain on myself was very different from simply acting it out in a drama. It underlined the importance of nature, and especially of water to us. This is environmental activism on stage.”Despite the boom, Nepali theatre still suffers from a limited audience, lack of funds, shortage of theatres, and playwrights. Prime Minster KP Oli himself inaugurated the festival, and promised to change things: “Theatre is not just entertainment, it is also a means of social change,” Oli said at the event. “It is the government’s duty to also protect and help it thrive.”The theatre community hopes he wasn’t just mouthing those lines.Some Highlights:Gaida TimesDirector: Sijan DahalGroup: Kadam TheatreCountry: Jhapa, NepalPaanchDirector: Sudam CKGroup: Katha GheraCountry: Kathmandu NepalMattbringDirector: AKM Yusuf HassanGroup: BibartonCountry: Jessore, Bangladesh Desaparaecidos 43Director: Anna Dora DornoGroup: Istabili VagantiCountry: Italy

All the world is a stage in Kathmandu

https://youtu.be/2h_MNN1I9r4Sangita Uranw describes the first time she saw the inside of a theatre: jaw- dropping. Used to performing street dramas, where passersby jostled to watch her, she had never been inside a proper theatre. She did not know that there were places where plays were staged.Uranw, 22, is the first professional actress from the Uranw, a sidelined and neglected Tarai community.  Few in her native Kuchhita village of Sunsari are educated, and rarely do women leave households. Uranw’s story, therefore, is itself drama in real life, and provides an example of how previously unseen sections of society are now <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/The-Queens,216" target="_blank" rel="noopener">actors on the national scene</a>.“I was interested in acting from a very young age, dressing up and performing at home,”  recalls Uranw (pronounced: Oo-raa-o with a nasal intonation in the ‘raa’). “I got involved in child clubs, and then in street dramas where we spread awareness on issues like child marriage, dowry, sanitation.”When Ghimire Yubaraj, director of Shilpee Theatre, went to Sunsari to give theatre training, he spotted 18-year-old Uranw’s potential talent and offered her a three-month scholarship in Kathmandu.“At first my parents worried about where I would stay, what I would eat. ‘Are you really going to become an actor?’ they would ask. But in the end, my passion convinced them,” says Uranw.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107111152/6368e4289c7e80680e0333c2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="788"/><figcaption>Bikram Rai</figcaption></figure>She first started re-enacting her village life at Shilpi: she created stories, fleshed out characters, and saw dramatic potential in the ordinary.“Sangita created a memorable solo performance in Uranw and Nepali languages, where she acts as ten different characters. Interestingly, the story is told by a crab. She brings her village to life,” says her mentor Ghimire Yubaraj.Making a dramatic crablike entrance, Sangita does a half back flip, lands on her back, and walks backwards on two hands and two feet. A little girl takes the crab home and it narrates how her alcoholic father drinks instead of taking her to the hospital, how her stepmother assigns chores to her, how eager she is for a glimpse of her neighbour’s TV.“As children, we used to go to the paddy fields in monsoon to plant rice, and to look for crabs in the rivers to eat in chutneys,” remembers Uranw.That is what I want to bring to stage: stories that I have seen, felt and experienced. We have so many stories in every village of Nepal, but we rarely see them on stage, and I want to change that.”She found that particular story in the life of her friend, who had a difficult time after her mother passed away. The 30 minute solo performance was scary for her at first, but shows her dedication and passion for the craft: it was praised for capturing the essence of life in the Uranw community after being staged at Shilpee Theatre and travelling to Morang and Jhapa. Her family, including her mother, attended the  play in Biratnagar and were proud to see her perform.While she learns and works at Shilpee Theatre, Uranw is also attending college, and is grateful for her family’s support. “The most important thing for them is that I am getting to study. And, as long as I continue my education, they will not complain,” she says. But for Uranw herself,  theatre always comes first.Over the past three years she has worked in six plays and feels there are many other Uranw youth who have the talent to be on stage and also succeed in many other fields. She says: “There were no actors from the Uranw community, but I succeeded because of my family’s trust and support. There are many others like me, and they can excel in whatever they want to do if they get the opportunity.”Also Read: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/old-traditions-new-meanings-kartik-nach,3355" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Old Traditions, New Meanings,</a> Rishi Amatya<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-is-stage-for-chekovs-three-sisters/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kathmandu is a stage for Chekhov's Three sisters,</a> Raisa Pande<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/play-review-a-midsummer-nights-sapana,2958" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A midsummer night's sapana,</a> Sahina Shrestha

Drama in real life

<img width="960" height="639" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107111152/6368e4159c7e80680e0333bbjpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Nepal’s theatre business is not doing well financially, but you would not be able to tell here in the alleys of Teku, home to Kausi Theatre and the drama group Katha Ghera. Despite being hard up, new theatres are rolling out productions thick and fast. It all started with Aarohan Gurukul, established by actor-director Sunil Pokharel three decades ago, which later became the first private theatre to stage plays with multiple performances. Besides Kausi, Kunja Theatre and Purano Ghar have recently sprung up in Kathmandu, and there are more than 150 theatre groups across the country including theatre halls in Jhapa, Pokhara and Morang. Three drama groups are building theatres in Pokhara alone, and many institutes like Actor’s Studio and Shilpee in Kathmandu <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1140#.WzSDLdUza70" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conduct classes</a>.  <figure><img width="3456" height="4608" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107111152/6368e4189c7e80680e0333bcjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Kathmandu hosts frequent theatre festivals: this month Nepal Academy’s Rang Utsav honoured 13th century Maithili playwright Jyotirishwar and Shilpee Theatre held its Tamang Drama Festival. Former theatre artists like Min Bahadur Bham, Dayahang Rai, Khagendra Lamichhane, Menuka Pradhan and Saugat Malla have even migrated from the stage to screen, starring in Nepali films. “It is good to see so many youngsters in theatre who understand film, music, art, and even the connection between space and performance,” says senior playwright Abhi Subedi. “Their interest seems to be in re-interpreting history and depicting the inequalities and cruelties in society.”Recent plays like Court Martial questioned the caste system and hierarchy in the military. Harjeet reinterpreted a classic story from a woman protagonist’s perspective, Daraundi ko Pani imagined the life of Lakhan Thapa and Manakamana Devi, Bhrikuti portrayed Nepal’s famous princess who was married in Tibet, Ani Deurali Runcha depicted feudal oppression and forced migration, Jayamaya Afumatrai Lekhapani Aipugi enacted the journey of Burmese Nepalis fleeing World War II.   <figure><img width="960" height="639" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107111152/6368e41b9c7e80680e0333bdjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Nepali theatre has come of age, with plays that ask probing questions about social injustice, discrimination, and modern ethical dilemmas. Jiundo Akash portrays a transgender person, the adaptation of Vagina Monologues brought the private lives of women into the public sphere, while 30 Days of September sensitively tackled child abuse. Despite these vibrant themes, however, Nepali theatre still struggles with originality. Few of the plays are new, and directors seem to prefer <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/play-review-a-midsummer-nights-sapana,2958" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shakespeare</a>, Moliere, Tagore, or even Lu Sun to home-grown dramas. There is a general lack of technical knowledge of stage production.“Nepali theatre lacks research, which is impeding its growth,“ explains pioneer theatre artist <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16216#.WzSF59Uza71" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sunil Pokharel</a> of Aarohan Gurukul. “Different ethnic groups have diverse performance cultures in Nepal, we need to mine these cultures so that we can produce more original, Nepali-style plays.”Strong folk performance cultures are evident in Janakpur, where Mithila Natyakala Parishad, one of the oldest theatre groups still active, draws from folk traditions and attracts big audiences to every performance. But it struggles with not having its own home stage.  <img width="960" height="639" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107111152/6368e41e9c7e80680e0333bejpeg.jpg" alt="">Gurukul was one of the first to have its own theatre, but the hall was destroyed in 2012, followed by the closing of <a href="https://theatrevillage.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Theatre Village</a> in 2016 and Theatre Mall in 2017. At ticket prices of Rs100-500, the income just does not justify the expensive land theatres are housed on.Except for groups like Sarwanam, which has its own space, theatres rent and have to constantly worry about their future – which doesn’t do much for creativity. Dozens of groups have to take turns staging plays in the six or so threatres. Sunil Pokharel limits himself to just two plays a year because of space constraints. “Theatre’s main problem today is that it lacks institutional support,” says Abhi Subedi. “There is no degree course on theatre in Nepal’s universities, and little government financial support to produce plays.” Pokharel says corporate sponsorship would do the trick and make up for the shortfall in ticket revenue, but there isn’t much of that.  Despite difficulties, artists find Nepal’s close, intimate theatres, where the audience can hear the performers breathe on stage very impactful. Says Pokharel: “There is no such thing as enough money, in any profession. And if you think you want to take to the stage, you have to be prepared to survive the harsh reality of theatre.”Read also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1140#.WzSDLdUza70" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Real life drama</a>, Abha Eli Phoboo<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Bhagvad-Gita-as-opera,3236" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bhagvad Gita as opera</a>, Smriti Basnet<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16216#.WzSF59Uza71" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The theatre of life</a>, CK Lal<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/play-review-a-midsummer-nights-sapana,2958" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Midsummer Night's Sapana</a>, Sahina Shrestha

All the men and women merely players

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141136/6365158d9c7e80680e02c1c7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="818"/><figcaption>Photos: Bikram Rai</figcaption></figure>"Life won’t change. It’ll still be happy and hard and mysterious”, says a character early on in the play in response to a philosophical discussion after a few drinks. A telling line that speaks in a universal voice, and one that is likely to grasp the attention of the audience in this adaptation of Anton Chekov’s famous work Three Sisters.What relevance can a play written nearly 120 years ago in Russia have in present day Kathmandu? Possibly it is the theme of universal humanity, and this is what director Rose Schwietz underscores in her adaptation of Three Sisters .The play revolves around the lives of a family lost in the past, reminiscing glorious yesteryears. Set in a small town in Russia, sisters Olga, Masha, Irina, and their brother Andrei are in a nostalgic limbo. They endure the drudgery of life, hoping to some day return back to Moscow where they grew up. They miss its vitality and charm.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141136/636515919c7e80680e02c1c8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933">The play’s timeline spans a couple of years, giving us enough time to examine significant changes in each of the characters. What starts as a joyous celebration of life and memories quickly changes with the choices the characters make.Andrei’s decision to get married affects the dynamics with his sisters. Olga sees herself slowly succumbing to a life she isn’t too fond of, Masha feels trapped in a loveless marriage and makes a life-altering choice, while Irina who works in the local telegraph office looks forward to a life of exuberant bliss.As all of this unfolds, tragedy awaits. But it is not the tragedy that is the most telling detail of this version of Three Sisters. Over the last century, each director has made creative choices that have shaped the narrative. In Kathmandu, Schwietz makes what initially seems like a minor change in the plot but which shapes a dynamic outcome in the play -- especially regarding a secret that Masha holds on to before disclosing it to her sisters towards the end.The cast gives a riveting performance that is complimented by the compact setting of the theatre. This Russian family saga becomes both a personal experience and a collective challenge which the audience is made to confront head-on. The characters move from euphoria to dismissiveness to finally accepting their fate and the tragedy that has befallen them. It is a roller coaster of emotions.Despite its grim ending, the passion that is played out on stage is reason enough to keep coming back for this captivating depiction of 19th century Russia in Kathmandu’s alleyways.One World Theatre Production  5.15pm, 9-19 March, Kunja Theatre, Thapagaun (except Mondays)

Kathmandu is stage for Chekov’s Three Sisters

Nepal’s only international aviation gateway, at Kathmandu airport, will cut night-time operation hours to allow construction of taxiways, and airlines have been told to curtail flights. This is expected to lead to more than normal chaos during the height of peak autumn and spring tourist seasons at an airport that is congested even at the best of times. The airport will close from 10PM to 8AM from 8 November-31 March 2025. The taxiways will now connect to the thresholds at both ends of the runway, making the airport more efficient in handling higher frequencies of landings and takeoffs. The parallel taxiway extension will allow international flights to land every 4 minutes instead of the current every 7 minutes. At present planes have to wait to land until a plane taking off backtracks along the runway.&nbsp; Kathmandu is Nepal’s only airport with international operations, and it has only one runway that is only one way in from the south over the mountains. With the taxiway improvement, the airport will be able to handle 42 aircraft landings and takeoffs per hour — double the current capacity.&nbsp; The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has been trying to entice international airlines to also start flying to and from the other two international airports at Pokhara and Bhairawa (Lumbini) by slashing landing and handling charges. But so far only Nepal Airlines operates a weekly flight to Bhairawa from Kuala Lumpur.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241018161016_046569e53d1d66cd445cc66c697c0ef724810aec9f54bdf827481e3cd6b80c32.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241018161016_046569e53d1d66cd445cc66c697c0ef724810aec9f54bdf827481e3cd6b80c32" data-rendition-name="original" width="2356" height="1134" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu airport expansion"> <figcaption>Kathmandu Airport Expansion plan with extension of taxiways to the thresholds of runways 02 and 20 that will limit airport operations from 8 November 2024 - 31 March 2025. Areas in blue are existing structures, including the international terminal which in future will be the domestic airport, and the new international terminal near the north end of the runway,</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241018121028_6e17cc2ee87c1b02d78cb54905825b7aa15299b7a00f5eddb01a59579ab85c1a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241018121028_6e17cc2ee87c1b02d78cb54905825b7aa15299b7a00f5eddb01a59579ab85c1a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1353" height="1328" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu airport NT"> </figure>  CAAN has reportedly told international airlines to cut their flight frequency to Kathmandu citing the shorter operation hours and has told budget airlines to shift some of their flights to Pokhara or Bhairawa, or face cuts. Many airlines currently operate regular flights to and from Kathmandu between 10PM and 8AM: Air Arabia to Sharjah, Fly Dubai to Dubai, Jazeera Airways to Kuwait, Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, Singapore Airlines, several Nepal Airlines flights, and one of four daily flights by Qatar Airways to Doha. Jazeera Airways, FlyDubai, and Thai AirAsia have applied and got permission from CAAN to begin regular flights to Bhairawa’s Gautam Buddha International Airport. Starting 9 November, FlyDubai will start making a stopover in Bhairawa before flying on to Kathmandu. Immigration, customs and security are all fully functional in Bhairawa. In Kathmandu, the next phase of the airport upgrade includes converting the current international terminal for domestic operations, the construction of a new international terminal where the domestic departure area is now, as well as moving the hangars and the Nepal Army Air Wing to the eastern side of the runway. The apron area will also double its parking space for widebody jets. This is part of a Airport Capacity Enhancement Project that was initially funded through a $80 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the entire masterplan is expected to cost $800 million. This project is the latest upgrade to Nepal’s only international airport since it saw its first flight in 1949. The current international and domestic terminals are too small to handle the current annual traffic volume of 8.5 million passengers a year that is growing at 20% a year.

Kathmandu airport to cut flight hours

As Kathmandu becomes more congested and polluted, and with remote online work becoming the norm, many professional Nepalis are planning to retire in Pokhara, or move there.&nbsp; With its stunning mountain panorama, balmy winters and proximity to a profusion of wilderness areas, builders are responding to this demand with new townhouses, housing development and apartments. One such block of flats is the 10-storey <a href="https://sungavaapartment.com/">Sungava Apartment</a> located at Phulbari above the Seti River, near the point where it flows into and under Pokhara. The imposing structure near Manipal Hospital is almost complete, and on a recent visit the site was strewn with huge boulders unearthed while digging the foundation.&nbsp; The Seti brought down these boulders during a gigantic flood that geologists estimate happened 800 years ago when a chunk of Annapurna IV broke off and ploughed into the glacier below. Today, Sungava (means ‘orchid’) sits safely on a high terrace, 100m above the blue-green Seti and commands a view of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South, Machapuchre, Annapurna III and IV.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024102411104_5f8fc736c86ea3c08d7bef43bb727081d3cc1a2caa55ae2b441717e6044de7e9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024102411104_5f8fc736c86ea3c08d7bef43bb727081d3cc1a2caa55ae2b441717e6044de7e9" data-rendition-name="original" width="2016" height="1512" loading="lazy" alt="High living below the Himalaya NT"> </figure>  The soil here is conglomerate that has solidified like concrete, and the boulders were extracted by heavy earthmovers. It is intriguing to think that these metamorphic rocks as big as cars, rounded by glacial grinding, were once a part of a much higher Annapurna IV. Even for those with little interest in geology, Sungava is an ideal place to contemplate the tectonic forces that pushed these peaks into the sky to be sculpted into delicate shapes by wind, snow, earthquake and avalanche over millions of years. The view of the Himalayan panorama from Sungava’s many balconies are breathtaking when not obscured by clouds, or the haze that drifts in from across the southern border. On most days, just watching the towering pyramid of Machapuchre (Tamu name: कतासुँ क्लिको) play hide and seek with the clouds is mesmerising. There are rocks aplenty at Phulbari, and it is probably the flowers that grew along the flat terraces e that gave the place its flowery name. The boulders will hopefully be turned into a rock garden while landscaping. An nearby restaurant complex is making the best use of the stones in its design, using flat rocks as outdoor benches and tables. Sungava was designed by the husband-wife architect team of Deepak Sherchan and Jyoti Joshi of <a href="https://thedarkmermaidamarbshrestha.blogspot.com/2013/12/creative-builders-collaborative-cbc.html">Creative Builders Collaborative (CBC)</a>, which also built Heritage Plaza, Indreni Apartment and numerous other projects in Nepal. Sadbhavana retains CBC’s trademark Newari-style masonry and here it borrows from the orange brickwork of the old town of Pokhara, integrating it with modern design elements. A few of those heritage houses are still standing in Ganesh Tole and Ram Krishna Tole in Pokhara’s old quarter.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024102411108_5eb64a4885961b6d30781cefeb1e8a313da313ac5227c7a66b60f0c7d48d6fab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2024102411108_5eb64a4885961b6d30781cefeb1e8a313da313ac5227c7a66b60f0c7d48d6fab" data-rendition-name="original" width="1362" height="595" loading="lazy" alt="High living below the Himalaya NT"> </figure>  About 400m from the apartment past a bend on the river, and down below three tiers of terraces in the canyon is a suspension bridge. Below it, the Seti is still swollen with post-monsoon flow as it tumbles away in a hurry to head down south.&nbsp; Back at the apartment, it is quiet, far away from the hubbub of Lakeside a 15 minute drive away, and in the lap of greenery. There are 52 units at Sungava and it already has a close-knit prospective community of professionals, including doctors, publishers, engineers, and businesspeople from the renewable energy and IT sectors.&nbsp; Some residents say they opted for a second home in Pokhara to make it a ‘base camp’ to explore the Annapurnas with its many hiking trails made newly accessible with new roads. With the NRN citizenship law, overseas Nepalis can now also buy the flats. &nbsp; The floor plans include options for north and south-facing 3-bedroom apartments with verandas, and the facility has underground parking has EV charging, heated pool, sauna and gym. There are still some unsold apartments with panoramic views of the mountains and one can imagine oneself at the kitchen with its huge window, humming a ditty while preparing breakfast: “खाना पकाउँ हिमाल हेरेर...”

High living below the Himalaya

When the United Nations held its Summit of the Future at its headquarters in New York in September, many world leaders, including Nepal’s Prime Minister K P Oli, highlighted the effect of climate breakdown in increasing the frequency and intensity of natural disasters. What did not get as much attention was the long term impact of the climate crisis on food production. In fact, heat stress, weather extremes and the consequences on rain-fed agriculture is already being felt worldwide, undermining the chances of the <a href="https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/">UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)</a> being met by 2030.&nbsp; The SDG’s 17 targets commit countries like Nepal to reduce poverty and inequality, end malnutrition, protect the natural environment, and ensure that citizens all enjoy health, justice and prosperity without leaving anyone behind.&nbsp; However, besides the impact of climate breakdown on agricultural production, in Nepal the area under cultivation is impacted by urban expansion, falling productivity and the need for expensive inputs like fertiliser and pesticides.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_626413c5baf4dae407ac9579231b41daeb51510aa636b75aeb7489d94cca6a62.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241019041052_626413c5baf4dae407ac9579231b41daeb51510aa636b75aeb7489d94cca6a62" data-rendition-name="original" width="999" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>Kathmandu's urban sprawl is eating into its fertile cultivable lands. Photo: TAYLOR MASON</figcaption> </figure>  Now, a new study led by Nepali researcher Prajal Pradhan at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands looks at how urban agriculture may offer a solution to falling food production and meeting SDG targets. The researchers evaluated 1,450 publications exploring the contributions of urban agriculture with both positive and negative effects, and published their findings in the journal Cells Report Sustainability. Urban agriculture can help achieve 17 SDGs, positively influencing 81 targets. However, it could also undermine 51 goals.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-vanishing-land">The vanishing land</a>, Taylor Mason “Urban agriculture offers immense potential for sustainable development, but realising this potential depends crucially on adopting practices that minimise its adverse effects while maximising its benefits,” Pradhan explains. Urban agriculture can substantially enhance urban food security, provide employment to the urban poor, serve as ground water recharge in built-up areas, and preserve open spaces that can serve as safe havens during disasters like earthquakes. However, it also presents problems like the potential health risks from contamination and the need for expensive inputs. &nbsp; “Urban agriculture plays a definitive role in advancing the SDGs, but achieving this requires tailored, context-specific solutions that address the unique challenges of different regions,” says Yuanchao Hu of Wuhan University in China and who is a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. “But it needs equitable access and rigorous management of environmental risks.”&nbsp; Rapid urbanisation is eating into Nepal’s most fertile agricultural land, which means farming in remaining open spaces inside cities can be a viable alternative, especially as food prices rise.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_7b7c9413086226fbdc630d45acf772cfa1ced77a8970b9056ec5ec7e5226fdf8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241019041052_7b7c9413086226fbdc630d45acf772cfa1ced77a8970b9056ec5ec7e5226fdf8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>A vegetable patch in between new houses in Thimi. Photo: TAYLOR MASON</figcaption> </figure>  “The conversion of Nepal’s most fertile land into cities is a severe problem,” Pradhan told Nepali Times. “Crop cultivation, horticulture, agroforestry, beekeeping, livestock rearing, or aquaculture can all be farming activities within and around cities.”&nbsp; The study makes recommendations for sustainable practices that build on the positive aspects of urban agriculture while mitigating the downsides, thereby promoting more resilient cities in future. Research shows that urban agriculture has been helping many countries attain SDG targets by enhancing food security and biodiversity while helping education and preservation of open spaces.&nbsp; Indeed, many farmers from the hinterland who have settled in Kathmandu Valley or other urban areas of the country have been practicing urban agriculture, leasing neighbourhood patches or cultivating roof gardens both out of necessity because of inflation and falling income to grow their own food, and also as a fulfilling hobby. Saurav Dhakal, a sustainability advocate with Story Cycle and now research fellow at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand, says there are socio-economic and environmental benefits of urban agriculture. “It provides benefits to all urban dwellers, regardless of their income status,” says Dhakal, “families get fresh food, and there are many other benefits like water retention, heat regulation and biodiversity. These are all public goods, so special government incentives may be needed.” It is not unusual to see vegetable patches and even paddy fields within inner city Kathmandu where an older generation of farmers are using available fertile land and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/rooftop-gardens-kathmandu,1415">roof gardens to produce fresh, nutritious food </a>to reduce their dependence on food items that have to be bought after being trucked in from large distances.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024101905100_1291ce98dbbb8caed8702ac4b1d469b3e13016d7ecaaf3bfd5f91c974d3c0c77.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2024101905100_1291ce98dbbb8caed8702ac4b1d469b3e13016d7ecaaf3bfd5f91c974d3c0c77" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>An older generation of farmers are using any available fertile land to continue farming but it is getting more and more difficult. Photo: TAYLOR MASON </figcaption> </figure>  Nepal’s urban population grew rapidly from only 3.6% in 1991 to 25% today. There is large outmigration from the mountains to peri-urban areas of the Tarai, to Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara, with many young men then moving abroad for work. Kathmandu Valley’s population has swelled to nearly 3 million, and is growing at 6.5% a year. Dilip Shrestha, 71, used to work for Nepal Food Corporation, so he knew firsthand about inflation, shortages and vegetables with pesticide residue. So, when he designed his new house in Kathmandu, he built a spacious roof where he grows cucumber, ginger, garlic, coriander, onions, tomatoes, chili, beans, okra, pumpkin and lettuce. His family eats healthier, and he has reduced dependence on the market.&nbsp; The co-author of the Cell Reports Sustainability journal article, Daya Raj Subedi who is a PhD candidate at Beijing Forestry University, says urban agriculture also promotes inclusion and psycho-social wellbeing.&nbsp; He says, “A crucial finding of the study is the identification of opportunities and challenges associated with urban agriculture, it can promote sustainable transformation of society.” In Banepa, 55-year-old Bijaya Manandhar in her lifetime has watched the fertile farms of her neighbourhood that used to supply vegetables to Kathmandu, now completely built up with no open space left. The pandemic lockdown prompted her to turn to the family’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/rooftop-agriculture-on-the-roof-of-the-world">ancestral livelihood by growing food</a> not on terrace farms, but on the roof terrace. Manandhar is now a part of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/rooftop-agriculture-on-the-roof-of-the-world%5C%5C">कौसी खेती र करेसाबारी क्रान्ती</a> (Rooftop Farming and Garden Revolution) which has an online membership of 52,000, and awards annual prizes to women who excel in urban agriculture.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_7257f5def8f823f35a799fa6f6825e153f2ffa406ac11325d4fe74049b79e96d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20241019041052_7257f5def8f823f35a799fa6f6825e153f2ffa406ac11325d4fe74049b79e96d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="736" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>Rooftop farming is gaining popularity as a form of urban agriculture. </figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_beff1a4494ce896dd8fd383ee1f518e5448bcf7ea8bb138255391c7bcb9769ed.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20241019041052_beff1a4494ce896dd8fd383ee1f518e5448bcf7ea8bb138255391c7bcb9769ed" data-rendition-name="original" width="4000" height="3000" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> </figure>  Pradhan says the challenge now is to upscale such examples of successful urban agricultural practices so they support Neal’s efforts to meet SDG targets. He adds, “Crop cultivation around cities can be protected by land use plans and regulations. Promoting community-based agriculture, including rooftop gardens, requires community engagement and public-private partnerships across the food value chain.”&nbsp; Such support would accelerate the popularity of existing rooftop farming and community gardens in Kathmandu Valley, or kitchen garden initiatives in Pokhara, and building on traditional farming practices that are preserved and integrated into urban settings like in Bhaktapur and Banepa. In Lalitpur, the Women Entrepreneurship Facilitation Center promotes urban farming enhancing both sustainability and empowerment.&nbsp; Another co-author of the report, Yuanchao Hu from China says followup research of the team will aim to identify good practices in local urban agriculture practices. He adds, “There are examples of urban agriculture that optimise sustainability, ensuring that it remains a viable solution for cities globally while countries try to meet SDG targets.” Prajal Pradhan, Daya Raj Subedi, Kshitij Dahal, Yuanchao Hu, Prakriti Gurung, Sijal Pokharel, Sagar Kafle, Biplav Khatri, Sudeeksha Basyal, Monika Gurung, and Aruna Joshi. Urban Agriculture matters for sustainable development. Cell Reports Sustainability, 1:100217, 2024. [DOI: 10.1016/j.crsus.2024.100217] Prajal Pradhan (<a href="mailto:p.pradhan@rug.nl">p.pradhan@rug.nl</a>) This article is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758" data-rendition-name="original" width="680" height="103" loading="lazy" alt="SDG logo"> </figure>

Back to the land in the cities

The 700-year-old Lakshmi Narasingha temple in Bhaktapur houses a rare half-lion and half-human incarnation of Lord Vishnu carrying the Goddess Lakshmi. The temple was destroyed in the 1934 mega earthquake that killed 10,000 people and destroyed many monuments in Kathmandu Valley. It was rebuilt by a German project in the 1980s, but as a single-storey structure instead of its original two-tier pagoda design.&nbsp; With new findings from in-depth research, Bhaktapur municipality began re-restoring the temple in 2021, preserving its original architecture.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_2fae38cce543ad7b1f6de632feb3e212e08ed1acedd747830e949d7b8e878f18.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241017131016_2fae38cce543ad7b1f6de632feb3e212e08ed1acedd747830e949d7b8e878f18" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “Our temples and heritage sites hold deep meaning. It is disheartening to witness how often they lose their original elements, whether by design or accident,” explains Kumar Chawal of the Consumer Committee of Bhaktapur. “There is a need to preserve our architecture and protect its historical value for future generations. Otherwise, we risk losing a vital part of our identity.” The Laksmi Narsingha restoration is similar to the Bhai Dega temple in Patan Darbar Square which also collapsed in 1934, but was rebuilt with a Moghul-style dome by the Rana government at the time. Only two months before the 2015 earthquake, heritage conservationists had started to rebuild Bhai Dega as the original three-tier based on early photographs. But priorities shifted when four other temples in the square were brought down by the 7.8M earthquake on 25 April 2015.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_697ea707d9ad163be5de5f2efbf5b70d3cab771adcc22f0fae6bf937c6cb0130.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241017131016_697ea707d9ad163be5de5f2efbf5b70d3cab771adcc22f0fae6bf937c6cb0130" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  This showed how damage to monuments in Kathmandu Valley spanned from one earthquake to the next. Bhai Dega restoration remains half-complete to this day because money for its restoration ran out.&nbsp; Whereas Bhai Dega restoration was done by the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust with grants from western embassies and international foundations, in Bhaktapur it is the municipality itself that allocated the Rs30.7 million needed to restore the Lakshmi Narasingha temple. The expected date of completion is early 2025. The municipality and local communities are focusing on two main aspects: preserving the past and promoting localisation. The restoration team has designed a blueprint for the temple by using historical photographs and insights from older generations.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_182882fdc393c99e70d1d0490319e415229563666c4934e3a582426ebf00ca30.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241017131016_182882fdc393c99e70d1d0490319e415229563666c4934e3a582426ebf00ca30" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="560" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “At first, the Lakshmi Narasingha temple had only one entrance, but during the demolition process, we uncovered the foundations of four doors. Now, we are restoring all of them. This is an example of how our ancient structures have changed over time, often without our knowledge,” says Chawal. “Constructing temples is not like building houses. They carry historical and spiritual values, which is why they hold a special place in our hearts,” he adds. By replicating ancient design elements and rebuilding the temple as accurately as possible to its original form, the team has stayed true to Bhaktapur’s soul. But the restoration also revived ancient techniques that were in danger of being forgotten, generating employment for woodcarvers, masons, and contractors. The community of Bhaktapur’s Gahiti neighbourhood near the famous Nyatapola Temple has also set aside specific days for locals to volunteer in the reconstruction work. This has encouraged young people to take pride in ownership of their heritage. Families have also supported the effort by donating funds for bells, the temple pinnacle, and other structural features to the temple.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_db850ec0c084cdbe54f65bee92dad2ad8122d20fd60ec87ec086fbb9d2f72bd6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241017131016_db850ec0c084cdbe54f65bee92dad2ad8122d20fd60ec87ec086fbb9d2f72bd6" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “I feel at peace knowing I have contributed my sweat to restoring this temple,” said one volunteer. “It is our duty to preserve our temples and heritage. The Nyatapola area will look magical once this temple is completed.” Community mobilisation is a long-standing tradition in Bhaktapur. In the past, locals have actively participated in the restoration of other temples in the city, such as Bhairav and Nyatapola fostering a strong sense of ownership. This collective engagement has not only been crucial in preserving the city's historical monuments but also in strengthening the bond between local communities and their heritage, says officials at the municipality. While securing funding is essential, and the municipality showed it values heritage conservation, the Lakshmi Narasingha restoration is proof that active involvement and sense of responsibility of the local community is as important, if not more. Local involvement also means that the monuments will be cared for into the future, When locals take ownership of these efforts, the restored monuments are not only protected in the present but are also cared for in the future.