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

Heritage champion, exponent of women’s empowerment, philanthropist and founder of <a href="https://www.dwarikas.com/our-story/">Dwarika’s Hotel</a>, Ambica Shrestha, passed away in hospital on Thursday after a brief illness. She was 92.&nbsp; Of her many accomplishments, the Dwarika’s Hotel which was named after her late husband Dwarika Das Shrestha stood as a monument to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HM6kNBEbJg">cultural and architectural preservation</a>.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024071811078_4e670c49f82675e42c25ced2adb251f0b8d22e7ddfe024c396d98b23c283de54.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2024071811078_4e670c49f82675e42c25ced2adb251f0b8d22e7ddfe024c396d98b23c283de54" data-rendition-name="original" width="1094" height="1424" loading="lazy" alt="Ambica and Dwarika Das Shrestha"> <figcaption>Ambica and Dwarika Das Shrestha in 1972.</figcaption> </figure>  The unique multiple award-winning hotel in Kathmandu used carved wooden windows, columns, eaves and other priceless objects rescued from ancient buildings that were being torn down over the past decades to make way for modern structures. Many of the carved wooden architectural elements in Dwarika's Hotel are therefore museum pieces. The hotel served as a living <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/time-capsule-of-kathmandu">memorial to Kathmandu Valley civilisation</a>, and underlined the importance of heritage conservation among Nepalis. The construction of the hotel also revived Nepal’s ancient wood carving and construction techniques in building and maintaining the property.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240718110712_d83d18d655703d2cfb4b73697f7d73a8029db9dedb4e8962fa5ea874890befc0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240718110712_d83d18d655703d2cfb4b73697f7d73a8029db9dedb4e8962fa5ea874890befc0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="799" loading="lazy" alt="Dwarika's Hotel"> </figure>  Besides the hotel, Ambica Shrestha was the founder of Nepal Heritage Society, a strong proponent of gender empowerment and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/four-years-later-nepals-farmers-rise-from-the-rubble" target="_blank">women in business</a>, and led the <a href="https://www.bpwnepal.org.np/" target="_blank">Federation of Business and Professional Women of Nepal</a> (BPWN). She was the Honorary Consul General of Spain in Nepal, and was conferred the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/business/spain-award" target="_blank">The Order of Isabella</a> medal by the Spanish government in February this year. She also served as Chair since its inception in 1998 of Himalmedia, the company that publishes Nepali Times.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024071811078_346a6328f28b8fc6258a08fa4153b25ef9c8cdd930ae7174ba59ab7fe028bee2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="2024071811078_346a6328f28b8fc6258a08fa4153b25ef9c8cdd930ae7174ba59ab7fe028bee2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1019" loading="lazy" alt="Ambica Shrestha"> </figure>  She and her husband founded Kathmandu Travels and Tours, and entered the tourism business in the 1970s during the coronation of King Birendra, and built Dwarika’s Hotel, expanding it in installments over the years. Today, the company also runs a resort in Dhulikhel. Ambica Shrestha’s family was from Sikkim and she moved to Kathmandu after getting married to Dwarika Das Shrestha in 1955, and had three children. She is survived by two daughters, grand- and great-grandchildren. <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DreZU7utOln0%26fbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1MZTUnnVTS8VLQPDO00hH_vDCWLBqJwKU_SdGi5R_69E6y9mx1_kDZUv4_aem_nxpD2cG4ruLKtHfqea0jLA&amp;h=AT2f1qT8yFYATI51q6lK-Q3jFOEgCSGNravpZsSZZgxCUxp8_3R1oOjUH33-O97BMVjh-tNpNvngrsWYxUoamkr-ga4e1WJ-EPeD5nx7QmfwlBCkMht3NL4p82CtX4cMajO9Ag">Ambica Shrestha</a> used to say: “There is no shortcut to success, it is a long struggle to preserve our past for the future. And it helps if you ensure that no one in society is left behind.” Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1181">Brick by brick by brick</a>, Aarti Basnyat Farewell and tributes from 8-11AM Saturday 20 July at Dwarika's Hotel.

Ambica Shrestha, 92

A Saurya Airlines aircraft crashed immediately after it took off from Kathmandu airport this morning at 11:11AM. 18 of the 19 people on board died, all of them Saurya Airlines engineers and staff. There was a Yemen national among the dead, as well as the wife and child of an employee of the Airlines.&nbsp; The flight, with call sign 9N-AME, was undergoing a C Check, which is a comprehensive test that a plane has to pass on a regular basis. The plane was headed to a hangar in the Pokhara International Airport for a part check-up.&nbsp; It is unclear why a test flight was carrying so many passengers.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_f2a35a9b1d7f37e675f9b9f0b70508fb5cdaff06cbcb02c6c7d9a776e11f9dbc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240724100712_f2a35a9b1d7f37e675f9b9f0b70508fb5cdaff06cbcb02c6c7d9a776e11f9dbc" data-rendition-name="original" width="1029" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_533614914a383fb4659fe1ae09e617a6301fcdb3e37b05ad40a04fb78508bac5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240724100712_533614914a383fb4659fe1ae09e617a6301fcdb3e37b05ad40a04fb78508bac5" data-rendition-name="original" width="900" height="1267" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>  Footage shows the plane making it about 30 metres high before violently veering right and crashing east of the runway. It plummeted into the ground and burst into flames, skidding ablaze into a container. The plane body was incinerated.&nbsp; According to a press release by Nepal Police, 18 bodies were recovered and taken to Teaching Hospital for post-mortem. Captain Manish Ratna Shakya is the only survivor of the crash. Shakya sustained injuries to his eye and will survive. He is being treated at Kathmandu Medical College in Sinamangal, near the airport.&nbsp; Prime Minister K P Oli got to the accident site for further investigation. Domestic and International flights have since resumed.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_f97a09e697a4a64f4b9ddbe27d40383125e9c567ff2f901cafa2adf5bee8c553.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240724100712_f97a09e697a4a64f4b9ddbe27d40383125e9c567ff2f901cafa2adf5bee8c553" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_b99f25e7685804697067edef6a70198e87db6d92854e963e166a43bc4b529754.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240724100712_b99f25e7685804697067edef6a70198e87db6d92854e963e166a43bc4b529754" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_0ac6451e92c640559eba138e8cb795da97c6b7cb6dab911d89427966d8801ddb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240724100712_0ac6451e92c640559eba138e8cb795da97c6b7cb6dab911d89427966d8801ddb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1728" height="1152" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_fee5bb0729632e6a1559eb4ef4a01edf5b2fae8bc764b817a1f635d6a333aed0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240724100712_fee5bb0729632e6a1559eb4ef4a01edf5b2fae8bc764b817a1f635d6a333aed0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1728" height="1152" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_736c2572364c614da34dea93efc076f003f43a353cf37177ca40c4221980605e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20240724100712_736c2572364c614da34dea93efc076f003f43a353cf37177ca40c4221980605e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1728" height="1152" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_e0115c81cd29196e6650360be19061a222a598883366b165d1ecc8f41967bbfe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240724100712_e0115c81cd29196e6650360be19061a222a598883366b165d1ecc8f41967bbfe" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_5813c761b37a734a84dda64b9212f39f2a6cf29e04f98575c0656ead300fb1df.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20240724100712_5813c761b37a734a84dda64b9212f39f2a6cf29e04f98575c0656ead300fb1df" data-rendition-name="original" width="1728" height="1152" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100752_c8e1494aa39d5b0df5c2620fbc1c341ee0e0202b4f1328ea3f644882e5119e73.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20240724100752_c8e1494aa39d5b0df5c2620fbc1c341ee0e0202b4f1328ea3f644882e5119e73" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT "> </figure>  &nbsp;

18 dead in Nepal aircraft crash

It would be a mistake to see this as simply a demand for more jobs. The quota movement, justified as it is, is simply the tip of the iceberg. A rampant government running roughshod over its people for so very long has led to extreme discontent.&nbsp; The quota issue has merely lit the fuse to this tinderbox. As citizens counted the dead and the injured, the prime minister fiddled, advising attendees at an aquaculture and seafood conference on tourism prospects in Cox’s Bazar. The original quota had been designed, shortly after independence in 1972, to be an interim arrangement to acknowledge the contribution of freedom fighters who constituted less than 0.25% of the population.&nbsp; Since a government known to be incredibly corrupt is responsible for creating the list of freedom fighters, over 50 years later the 120-fold allocation through a 30% quota has become an easy back door for party cadres to much sought-after government employment.&nbsp; Confirmation came through senior Awami Leaguers saying, ‘just get through the initial screening and we’ll get you through in the viva’ and more tellingly, ‘government jobs will only go to party people’. The resentment had resulted in protests in 2008 and 2013, but it was in 2018 that it gathered steam. When repressive measures failed to quell that unrest, the prime minister in a moment of rage, overstepped her authority and cancelled the entire system.&nbsp; This had never been a demand of the protesters, who recognised the need for positive discrimination for disadvantaged communities. There are plenty of other reasons for the unrest. The price of essential goods has skyrocketed over the years and people have their backs against the wall.&nbsp; Meanwhile, the Prime Minister herself publicly announces that her peon has amassed $40 million and only travels by helicopter. The peon is not the only one to travel by helicopter. Choppers were sent yesterday to rescue police trapped on a rooftop by angry protesters. 15th July 2024. It was reminiscent of 2018. The police van with water cannons and the long line of policemen standing at the Nilkhet corner on Monday made it abundantly clear that they were prepared. What were they prepared for?&nbsp; Certainly not the defence of unarmed students, or the general public. They failed to lift a finger when the students were being attacked. The armed goons of the Chhatra League (CL, ruling party’s student organisation) had been bussed in the previous night along with, apparently, youth gangs and leaders for hire. Their leaders had openly threatened the protesting students. CL was clearly the ones the police were on standby to defend.&nbsp; It was CL that the quota back doors were designed to favour. As it turned out there was little the unarmed students could do against the helmeted armed pro-government goons who had been left loose and the police were content to let the mayhem continue, stepping in only when the ferocity of people power took the goons aback.&nbsp; We walked past the blood and the strewn sandals in the streets. People stopped us to say the injured had been taken to Dhaka Medical College Emergency Ward. CL goons took positions around the ward where some of the injured were being treated while others marched around the wards, weapons in hand, the police conveniently stayed away. They continued to look away when CL goons went inside the ward to beat up injured students.&nbsp; There was no need to intervene. CL was not in danger. The nation was, democracy was, common decency was, the public was in grave danger, but that was not their concern. The fact that the protection of the public was their primary task, had never been part of the equation. Several were killed all over the country that day. “Justice will take its own course” is a common refrain of the law minister. The separation of the judiciary and the executive has never existed in Bangladesh. With this government, it has merged into one.&nbsp; It is used whenever the government wants to play good cop bad cop. The court enacts government directives. Credit is taken by the government. Blame goes to the court. The quota drama is no exception. Torture cells in public universities. Suppression of all forms of dissent. Jailing of opposition activists. The extra judicial killings, the disappearances. Huge concessions given to India, who have in return, helped prop up this illegal regime are all causes of anger.&nbsp; Abrar Fahad, the bright BUET student who had critiqued Indian hegemony in social media, was bludgeoned to death on campus by party cadres. The same cadres the quotas would provide back doors for. An entire generation of Bangladeshis is growing up hating India and the Boycott India campaign is gaining steam. Hasina is becoming a liability, even for our ‘friendly’ neighbour.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024072104078_3b92c0b66992ac238232667c7b3b83b4795e872e251d5eb03b42d669656d8c6d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024072104078_3b92c0b66992ac238232667c7b3b83b4795e872e251d5eb03b42d669656d8c6d" data-rendition-name="original" width="2226" height="1484" loading="lazy" alt="Bangladesh unrest"> </figure>  16 July 2024&nbsp; In a recent Facebook status, Abu Sayeed the unarmed student of Begum Rokeya University whom police had pumped four rubber bullets into, had written an ode to his favourite teacher Shamsuzzoha, a chemistry teacher at Rajshahi University, who had died in the hands of the Pakistani army in 1971 while trying to save the lives of his students. “Yes, you too will die, but while you are alive don’t be spineless. Support just causes. Come out to the streets. Be a shield for the students. It is then that you’ll be respected and honoured. Don’t fade away in the annals of time, through your death. Stay alive forever. Stay Shamsuzzoha.”&nbsp; No chopper had arrived, or indeed any attempt made at rescuing the hapless student. He became Shamsuzzoha. The televised murder is an indictment of a rogue government that has long lost its right to rule. The defiant outstretched arms of the young man, a televised murder that will remain etched in public memory. His body shudders after the first bullet, yet defiant he stands, then another bullet, and another and yet another. All from close range. The body crouches, then crumples and folds. His outstretched arms as he had faced the police will become the Tiananmen Square moment in Bangladesh’s history. 17 July 2024&nbsp; Border guards of Bangladesh, inept at protecting its citizens from becoming victims of the regular target practiced by Indian Border Security Forces, seem happy to turn their own guns towards unarmed students instead. The police were clearly lying when they claimed they had fired grenades to try and control unruly students.&nbsp; There were only four students at Raju Bhashkorjo. The only ones who had been able to get past the CL and police cordon. They wanted to hold a funeral for Abu Sayeed and other slain friends. When the police started shoving them away, they lay down on the ground in protest. They were surrounded by journalists. The police hurled a sound grenade which sent both the journalists and students scurrying. They then hurled further grenades at the journalists and bystanders left standing. That was when my colleague got hurt.&nbsp; The police were the only ones being violent. The entire space was encircled by hundreds of armed police. There were armoured vehicles. Water cannon trucks and even a prison van. I wonder which country has supplied our police with the 48 mm sound grenades (NF24. NENF24BP. MFG: 2022. Bangladesh Police/BP). The grenade was hurled directly at her. It was the first time she had joined a protest. At least she got to see how brave our police force is. 18 July 2024 A group of feminists who had planned to gather at Shahbag to express solidarity with the quota protesters, should not have posed a major threat. Police and government goons didn't allow them to gather, so they regrouped outside the Naripokkho office in Dhanmondi. They were attacked too. Safia Azim was injured, but did not require hospitalisation.&nbsp; The law minister, known for lying through his teeth, said earlier on BBC, that it was the protesters who instigated the violence. Meanwhile, the state-run &nbsp;BTV, the National Television Station, had been set on fire. Mobile data was blocked. Things were escalating. That night the Internet went down completely.&nbsp; Rumours spread about the military moving in. Fuelled partially by sightings of a convoy of APCs in the streets. Other sightings of 15 helicopters taking off from the Prime Minister’s official residence gave fuel to the rumours that the Prime Minister was trying to make a getaway. The sound of shelling and gunfire rang throughout the night. 19 July 2024 The Net had been down as had BTV the national television station. Over 50 have allegedly been killed. Pro government news outlets describe the protesting students as ‘miscreants’. A throwback to the term used by the Pakistani Army in 1971.&nbsp; There are other similarities. A flailing tyrant is lashing out to survive against an enraged public which has shaken free of its fear of a repressive regime. The attempt to disrupt the morning protest outside the Parliament Building in memory of Abu Sayeed, failed. Far too many protesters had gathered.&nbsp; The Net had been partially restored, but not BTV. That’s when news of attacks all across the country started pouring in. The left leader Zonayed Saki and other party members, had been badly beaten in Purana Paltan. The police backed vigilantes were desperately trying to quell the increasingly angry protesters. The desperate government offered a deal.&nbsp; The court would convene on Sunday, and they were prepared to engage in dialogue. ‘Not over spilled blood’ the students had replied. Fresh rumours of the military having been given magisterial powers and asked to intervene ‘In aid to civil power’, seems ironic. The people have spoken. The end is nigh. Shahidul Alam is an internationally-renowned Bangladeshi photojournalist and founder of Drik Picture Library and Pathshala photography training institute in Dhaka.&nbsp;

The Bangladesh tinderbox

Another deadly air crash in Nepal has once more made headlines around the world, further corroding the country’s poor aviation safety track record, and prompting questions about why these tragedies keep happening. A Saurya Airlines Bombardier CRJ200 on a maintenance ferry flight to Pokhara crashed on takeoff at Kathmandu airport shortly before noon on 24 July, killing 18 of the 19 people on board.&nbsp; The tragedy raised immediate questions about why a plane on a routine C Check ferry flight was carrying staff, including some with families.&nbsp; Initial reports, including videos of the crash show the plane bank steeply to the right after takeoff from runway 02, descend rapidly and just starting to level off before impact on an open space east of the runway.&nbsp; The captain Manish Shakya appears to have survived because the plane broke in two throwing the front of the plane away from the main cabin which exploded in a fireball. The actual reason why the plane spun out of control immediately after takeoff will only be known once Capt Shakya gives his account, and after an investigation.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724150756_f97a09e697a4a64f4b9ddbe27d40383125e9c567ff2f901cafa2adf5bee8c553.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240724150756_f97a09e697a4a64f4b9ddbe27d40383125e9c567ff2f901cafa2adf5bee8c553" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines plane crash"> <figcaption>Photo: SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption> </figure>  Aviation experts say that despite the horrendous loss of life, Wednesday’s crash could have been much worse had the plane veered to the left instead, and hit the international terminal building or the apron which was full of big jets preparing for departure.&nbsp; It was also fortuitous that the plane fell within the airport perimeter in an area where the ground is being levelled for a new international terminal building, and not in the densely populated suburb of Thapagaun east of the runway. The Canadian-built Bombardier CRJ200 of Saurya Airlines with call sign 9N-AME was 21 years old, and the only one flying in the domestic carrier’s fleet. The carrier mainly served trunk routes to Biratnagar and Bhadrapur in eastern Nepal. Among the dead in Wednesday’s crash were most of Saurya’s senior management, and its technical crew, including a Yemeni national. The Saurya Air crash is an outlier in Nepal’s air crash history where most disasters have been blamed on CFIT (Controlled flight Into Terrain, in which a plane hits a mountain hidden in cloud) or pilot error. Nepal’s high terrain, extreme weather and basic navigation facilities make it a challenging place to fly. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/60-years-of-living-dangerously" target="_blank">An analysis by Nepali Times</a> of 74 fatal crashes in Nepal in the past 60 years with data from various sources shows that a total of 960 have been killed. Some domestic carriers have <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-to-make-nepals-skies-safer" target="_blank">lost most of their fleet</a> of aircraft.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724150756_e3ffc6d8cc2d1e2b3c87fccd95ab06bb0573419e88ecfa3d1fc22362e1a37dff.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240724150756_e3ffc6d8cc2d1e2b3c87fccd95ab06bb0573419e88ecfa3d1fc22362e1a37dff" data-rendition-name="original" width="2778" height="1708" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal aviation accidents map NT"> </figure>  The crash was similar to a Bangladesh airliner that crashed near the runway at Kathmandu airport in 2018, killing 49 and injuring 22. An investigation concluded that the captain of the US Bangla Bombardier Q400 was having an emotional breakdown.&nbsp; A Sita Air Dornier 225 flight to Lukla also crashed soon after takeoff from Kathmandu in 2013, killing 23 mainly foreign trekkers. A probe into that crash showed that one of the causes was that the plane was overloaded. The deadliest international crashes involved Thai and PIA Airbuses on approach to Kathmandu airport within two months of each other in 1992, killing a total of 280 people. <div class="embed-block"><div><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="//cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2F78ZbecJ8BCE%3Fsi%3DEn14tig8xSaohj9C&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;"></iframe></div></div></div> Records show that 201 people have been killed in crashes in Nepal since 2016, 79 of them in three crashes in just the past two years, the most serious being the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/pokhara-bound-flight-crashes-in-nepal" target="_blank">Yeti Airlines disaster on 15 January 2022</a> at Pokhara airport which had been inaugurated just two weeks previously. The Saurya jet was flying to Pokhara for routine check after leasing the hangar there. Saurya used to maintain its aircraft at Buddha Air’s facilities in Kathmandu, but its hangar was not free. The last fatal accident in Nepal was a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/chopper-hits-mountain-near-everest" target="_blank">Manang Air helicopter</a> that went down near Lukla last year which killed six. Nepal’s domestic air travel has seen a boom in the past two years because of the poor state of highways. Most roads have been blocked by landslides and floods during the current monsoon, and there have been a spate of bad highway crashes including a debris flow that swept two intercity buses into the swollen Trisuli River on the Mugling highway on the night of 12 July carrying 65 passengers. The buses have not yet been found.&nbsp;

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