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Written in 1900 and first debuting in 1901 at the Moscow Art Theatre, Three Sisters has since been performed in various coun­tries with local adaptations. Penned by the renowned Rus­sian author and playwright Anton Chekhov, Three Sis­ters is among his most famous plays along with the likes of The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull and Uncle Vanya. ‘Tin Bahini’, the Nepali adaptation of the play, is scripted by Meghraj Adhikari and directed by Ghanshyam Shrestha.

Maya, Aabha and Rina are three sisters who leave the capital when their father, a military personnel, gets trans­ferred. The three sisters lead quiet, seemingly purpose­less lives. But their lives are thrown into disarray when their only brother Dipak Jung marries Nikita, a rural girl. Nitika, whose lifestyle and worldview are completely different from those of the sisters, disrupts the family dynamics with her bossy and manipulative character.

Although there are no dras­tic events in this play, the char­acters do have to endure many of the life’s more familiar vicis­situdes, making the play both poignant and relatable.

The cast includes Shanti Giri, Shushma Koirala, Sunisa Bajgai, Shyam Khadka, Shree Om Rodan, Ghimire Yuvaraj, Jiban Baral, Bikash Joshi, Arjun Neupane, Anna Deuja, Suresh GC, Asmita Khanal, Amul Shrestha and Shulabh Pandey.

The play is being staged at Shilpi Theater in Battisputali till May 26. The showtime is 5:30 pm every day of the week except on Tuesdays. There is an extra show on Saturdays at 1 pm. APEX BUREAU  

Nepal’s first international franchise singing reality show—Nepal Idol Sea­son 1—was a rollercoaster ride, from being everyone’s favorite one moment to being a topic of controversy in another. Nepal Idol is gearing up for the second season of its musi­cal journey. In fact, the audi­tion for Season 2 was com­pleted this month.

“Fewer people came to the audition this year compared to last year,” says Suresh Pau­del, the director and project head of Nepal Idol. “But those who did come were genuine singers,” he added. Suresh Paudel took up the direction of Season 2 after Laxman Pau­del decided to part ways with AP1 HD television.

Overall, various changes were made in this season of Nepal Idol.

“This season we decided to award talented signers a Golden Microphone during the audition itself. The con­testants the judges deemed competent enough to appear directly in the gala round were given the green light. Four contestants received the Golden Microphone in the audition round. Each of them is fantastic,” he shared.

Further, the judges’ author­ity was also changed. Last sea­son, only the voters had the right to decide a contestant’s fate, but from this season, there is an equal distribution of authority between the judges and the voters.

In the first season, a lawsuit was filed against Nepal Idol for airing a ‘No elimination’ episode in which the elimina­tion of a particular contestant was postponed for a week. Paudel attributes the error to many people not knowing the format, but he believes that the situation has changed now. As Freemantle Media has given various rights to Nepal Idol this year, the viewers will get to see new twists and turns such as ‘Double Elimination’, ‘No Elimination’ and a sur­prise wild card entry.

Talking about the contro­versy on social media last year when Nepal Idol failed to broadcast the live telecast of the Grand Finale in Qatar, Paudel accepts the mistake.

“We had planned every­thing but perhaps we weren’t professional enough,” says Paudel. Explaining the prob­lem, he says that the plan was to bring DSMG—Satellite broadcasting device for live transmission—via Dubai. But due to the Saudi-led blockade on Qatar, the Dubai authori­ties didn’t cooperate.

“So we decided to broadcast the event via the internet. But on the day, thousands of peo­ple came, and the signal of the tower was divided. It weak­ened the internet strength and caused a failure in live trans­mission.”

“We failed to anticipate the problem. Everything seemed to falling apart at the same time,” says Paudel. “The venue was miles away from the city. We tried getting a dedicated signal, but it just wasn’t possible in the short time we had.”

The Season 2 of Nepal Idol is set to air on July 26 with hosts Reema Bishwokarma and Asif Shah. The judge trio are Indira Joshi, Kali Prasad Baskota and Nhyoo Bajracharya.

“We will from now on hold the Grand Finale right here in Nepal,” says Paudel  

Nepali art is famous the world over for its traditional forms like Paubha and Thanka. Iron­ically, the artists are rarely known. It was to provide exposure to these obscure Nepali artists that Tilicho Kala, which works to promote Nepali art, organized the second edition of Synthesis Art Exhibition this week by. The exhibit of traditional and contemporary paintings, photogra­phy and sculptures at the Siddhartha Art Gallery in Babarmahal ran from May 2 to 5.

“Our aim was to bring together the who’s who of Nepali art under a roof and provide them with a common platform to interact and appreciate each other’s works,” says Ujen Nor­bu Gurung, the event organizer and founder of Tilicho Kala.

The event, as its name suggests, was a synthesis of traditional and contemporary arts. Indeed, the rich display symbolized the evolution of Nepali art from its traditional form to its more modern expressions, accord­ing to Gurung.

Some of the notable works on display were Erina Tamrakar’s ‘The Third Eye’, The Bajracharya Fam­ily’s ‘Wooden Sculptures’ and Lok Chitrakar’s ‘Pancha Buddha’. The exhibition also featured live band performances and poetry recitations.

Punya R Bajracharya, Samundra MS Shrestha, Kichaa M Chitrakar, Prem Chitrakar, Yanik Shrestha, Samir Maharjan, Aakash Pradhan, Pratham R Bajracharya, Sapta R Bajracharya, Amir Shakya, Pradip Shakya, Rashana Bajracharya, and Michelle LL, were other artists featured. APEX BUREAU

‘Andheri Nagari Chaupat Raja’, a drama produced by CAP motion Pictures & Kalaasi Production, which had previously been making movies and music videos, is being staged at Kunja Theater till May 11. The show time is 5:30 pm every day of the week except Wednesday. There is an extra show on Saturday at 1 pm. ‘Andheri Nagari Chaupat Raja’ is one of the most pop­ular dramas of Bhartendu Harishchandra, the father of modern Hindi literature. Directors Sangeet Sapkota and Ashish Ghimire have adapted the drama to local taste. The play is a satire on an unscru­pulous and autocratic mon­arch and reveals how a ruler’s misguided actions can lead to his downfall. “This drama is a reflection of the society we live in,” say the director duo.

The drama’s music is directed by Sangit Sap­kota and Monish Niroula. The cast includes Jiban Bhatta­rai, Shravan Singh Rana, San­jeet Pratap Malla and Peter Prince. APEX BUREAU