Teaching us how to tackle our demons

The collapse of a ten-year-old friendship between Mahesh, a tech entre­preneur (played by Karma) and Anil, a dentist (played by Raymon Das Shrestha), begins when the latter buys an expensive painting. Their mutual buddy Devashish, a DJ who will soon inherit his father’s pashmina busi­ness (played by Kundoon) and who usually does not care about the world, is frus­trated as he finds himself buffeted by the envy, pride and self-centric nature of his two friends.

Based on an award-win­ning play by Yasmina Reza, and directed by Sabine Lehmann, ‘Art’ highlights the destructive nature of our negative emotions and how even an age-old friendship can fray when they go untethered.

The characters, their suppressed emotions and the events leading up to the opening of the play are introduced through humor­ous monologues. One can espy mutual bitterness of the characters towards each other through their restless­ness and the allusions they make. Mahesh’s envy of Anil is so strong that at times it becomes laughable. Devash­ish’s frustrated attempts to ease the tension between Mahesh and Anil also create some hilarious moments.

The experience is further enhanced by the musicals reiterating the events and the excellent soundtrack of Aman Karna and Prince Nepali which blends tunes of sarangis, guitars and electronic music. Kun­doon introduces his char­acter Devashish through a contemporary and catchy rap. Director Sabine Leh­mann and set director Lud­milla Hungerhuber make a brief appearance in the musical and proclaim the arrival of dark moments between the friends. Despite all the negativity the musi­cal packs in, it still evokes smiles and even laughter from the audience.

Further, moments of slap­stick keep the audience pre­pared for the exhilarating or devastating moments that are about to unfold. The ele­vating anger and the silly actions of the characters are accompanied by short sarangi notes. The repetitive, energetic electronic music played when the stage is being prepared between acts makes time flow slowly, thus giving us a perception that no time passed at all. The music also serves to heighten the tension.

The set is also colorful, and flooded with bright lights. Devashish’s messy room reflects his lack of care for life while Anil’s room sug­gests his grandiose personal­ity. The dresses of the char­acters are also revelatory. Anil is decked out in a white suit while Mahesh is draped in a black one, clearly show­ing the disharmony between the two characters. Devash­ish, in his role of a mediator who seeks to lower tension between his two friends, is dressed in a black and white t-shirt, showing that he is completely neutral.

The play suggests that we better learn to keep our emo­tions in check if we are not to let them destroy our lives. And it is worth watching. The show starts at 7:15 every Friday, Saturday and Sunday (from Dec 14 to 23). The final run will be from Dec 27-29. The venue is Hotel Vajra, Bijeswari, Swayambhu, and reservations can be made by calling 01-4271545.

 

Most of the world’s problems arise when emotions overtake us

APEX CHAT with Sabine Lehmann, Director, Studio 7 - Naga Theater

 

What inspired you to direct this play?

I like the works of Yas­mina Reza because they are quite straightforward in terms of human emotions. Her works vividly portray human behaviors and how negative emotions manifest and destroy everything. But her plays are not com­pletely dark as the char­acters always reconcile in the end and the entire pro­cess is filled with humor. Apart from my love of the source material, I also like working with Karma, Kun­doon and Raymon, as they understand and cooperate with each other. I wanted to challenge them to per­form a play like this where the portrayal of the human emotions needs to be pitch-perfect.

What is your favorite part of the play?

There are many parts that I like but the favorite part is probably the reali­zation and reconciliation phase, when the characters realize how their negative emotions will gradually destroy everything if let loose. It is then that they confront the fact that it takes a lot of time to change their feelings towards each other. Since they have insulted each other mercilessly and in an evil way, reconciliation seems impossible. But something dramatic happens and set­tles the tension between the two friends. It is this moment that makes this play a rollercoaster ride.

Was there any message you wanted to convey through this play?

Most of the world’s prob­lems arise when emotions overtake us. This explains why political systems fail, why rapes continue, why the society is getting sub­missive, why countries declare war and why men get into a mess. If we know how to deal with negative emotions, we get closer to solving those issues. It is okay for people to pursue wealth, power and rec­ognition but they should not forget the essentials. The first step towards such a healthy pursuit is to recognize the negative impulses within us. Kar­ma’s character starts this in the play when he says to Raymon’s character that they were happy with each other when they were not acting independently with regards to their taste.

Considering that you do not share the cultural background of your audience how do you ensure that the underly­ing message resonates?

I did not think that was the problem as human emotions are common across all cultures. You can recognize them and relate to the actions performed under their influence. Any­body will be able to grasp instances in the play where negative emotions are slowly gripping the minds of the characters. They will have no problem recogniz­ing them and getting what happens in the play.