I hate confrontations. I’ve always been of the kind who tries and wishes he could stay out of trouble. If it meant losing in on some of the finer things in life then I would consider the consequences. Obviously, it’s not always possible and when I have to I believe I could handle things, but my main objective is to avoid as much drama from the real time mode of my life as possible.
Put a socially awkward person in a room that holds about hundred people tops and ask him to watch a set of people confront each other with volatile emotions, and wonder what would happen? I always did.
30 Days in September was the 1st professional play that I watched and it was really awkward to sit through the 1 and 1/2 hour that the play ran. Although, luckily, I was never at the vantage point of the actors and hence watched the play from the 3rd person point of view, I just couldn’t help but feel the tension of confrontations going on few meter away from me, in real time.
Theater village is a pretty small theater, which sets up a feeling of involvement for the audience and allows the actors to do things like sitting on a seat while they waited for the theater to fill and then walk to the stage and start the play right away, something that Diya Maskey did pleasantly.
One thing that stood out in this play was that the acting. I wonder how much of talent it required to be able to do what these fine set of actors do, a lot for sure. Diya Maskey’s portrait of a promiscuous woman, a sex addict, and the dramatic unwinding and resurgence of her mental state after she decides to come out of her shell and confront the events, people and situations that caused her deterioration, is absolutely fantastic. I was also extremely impressed by Aruna Karki’s portrait of a dis-likable mother at first, who later becomes relate able and hence an outlet for empathy to the audience. These two are arguably two of the best actors in Nepal and the play benefits a lot from their talents. The rest of the cast are good as well. Roy Shrestha as the mischievous maternal-uncle is pretty good, but his portrait actually employs comedic relief so that the play wouldn’t look extremely disturbing, which in turn undermines the actually impact of his presence, also lowering the tone of play by a few notch. I actually didn’t mind this treatment since for my 1st play I’d not have as much enjoyed a more conventionally intense half and hour. The actor who plays the supportive boyfriend, carries the scenes well, but the play is mostly about the other three characters.
For anybody who was starting to read books, I would always recommend The Alchemist, it’s a great book but more importantly it’s a simple collection of good short stories which kept the pace of reading fresh, perfect for starters, it is interesting and is not filled with complex analogies and portraits. I thought this play was The Alchemist of the plays, for the person who’s watching his first play it wasn’t too complex, didn’t contain any complex analogies, too much abstract acting or meanings in the story. I thought I understood the play completely and could tie in all the ends that were set loose from the start, before I got up the seat to go home at the ned.
I wouldn’t know about the plot, it’s something I have no idea about, but I could relate to some of the emotions that were floating around in between, which helped keep me involved and it’s a good thing. The play was never going to be remembered too much for the plot or the aesthetic designs anyway. The strength of the play lies in screenplay, the way scenes are set up and how it plays out, the timing was exquisite which also in turn shows the immense talents of the actors and technical crew involved.
Throughout the time I watched this play, I had a sense of unease. I didn’t want to watch people fight and shout at each other but I couldn’t walk away, so I stayed but after a short period of buildup of tension there were always one or two comedic intentional quirks at the end to defuse the tension. I enjoyed that. The intense scenes didn’t run too long to make me; as a armature audience, feel too uneasy and to be scared of going back to watch another play again too soon.
It was just enough for me, and would be for most of the not so familiar theater audience who have or would happen to stumble upon this play.
I could see glimpse of the Bangali playwright in this one too, although it has been adapted for Nepal. I have read and watched some Bangali stories that had some similar tones.
This is an extremely well setup and acted play that I would recommend to anyone who has some curiosity about it to tr. You would not be disappointed, I am not… it was a Saturday well spent.
I’d give it 8.5/10.
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