E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, SEP 22 -

A theatrical production that addresses life—its upheavals and downfalls, its monotony and droll realism—is certain to win the hearts of many a spectator. This is exactly what the Nepali rendition of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge manages to do its audience. Miller’s play presents to us the lives of twentieth century Italian migrants in America. This idea of immigrating to America has a prominent place in the modern Nepali psyche. It is, perhaps, the dream of every other Nepali to somehow make it in that golden “land of opportunities.”

Pulbata Herda, as translated by Samunna KC is a powerful narrative that encompasses power, desire, lust and death—perhaps the strongest of our psychological drives within its spectrum. Ragav(Sandip Chhetri) is a construction worker who lives with his wife and orphaned nice in Brooklyn. What seems to be a jolly living-room scene introduces these three characters to the audience. Yet, even within the scope of this short scene, it becomes evident to audiences that Dipika (Samunna KC), is the wife of a man who is somehow too possessive towards their young, yet in many ways still childish niece Riya(Menuka Pradhan).

This familial story takes a turn when two brothers from Mustang—who have illegally entered the country through the Mexican border—come to stay with the family. Mangal (Bikash Neupane), the elder brother is an honest, hard-working man who harbours dreams of betterment for his wife and two sons. Rabindra (Devya Dev Pant), the younger brother has dreams of his own as well. He hopes to get an American citizenship by marrying an American girl. When Riya, the legal migrant sees this innocent, charming, young man, she instantly falls in love with him. But Ragav is vehemently against his niece’s feelings for the boy and begins insulting him in numerous implicit ways.

As Riya and Rabindra get closer to each other, Ragav becomes increasingly possessive about the young girl. He goes to a lawyer (Eelum Dixit) to try and find a way of splitting the two’s relationship but is unsuccessful. Powerless to do anything else, Ragav vents his angst against Rabindra physically while pretending to teach the latter some boxing skills.

A few more of such power displays and fights find their place on screen until we get to a psychologically revealing point in which Ragav catches Rabindra and Riya in the act of love-making. The burning tensions that have been underscoring the play’s movement up to this point come bursting to the fore in this scene, and audiences can only watch and listen and think from this point on. An outcome of a month’s intensive work, Eelum Dixit’s first directoral venture of a Nepali-language play, Pulbata Herda has, for the most part, not let down its its cast and crew.

Miller’s skilful mastery at rendering the most complex of psychological workings alive in theatre scripts has been retained in KC’s translation and this is what moves both actors and audiences to an exceptionally poignant experience of the play.

Posted on: 2011-09-22 09:17

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