The play begins with Deep (Ghimire Yubaraj) and Muma Hajur’s meeting after 25 years. They have an age old relationship.
Muma Hajur, then Rashmidevi was 45 and Deep a 19 year old teenager. He was not Deep but was Kamal Ghimire. Deep is a ‘Dalit’ but has concealed his original caste and lives as Kamal Ghimire to avoid caste based discrimination. He has rented one of the rooms in Rashmidevi’s house. The layers of the past start unfolding as the two characters start talking. Muma Hajur wants to recall all the sweet memories she had with Deep but Deep wants to forget. Rashmidevi, married to Colonel Shyam Kumar Basnet recalls how she was trapped inside the four walls of her house. She expresses her suffocation living in the house. Later her husband is abducted and killed during war. She is later informed that her husband has married another woman and has a child with her. After her husband’s death she feels that she has now become free. It reminds the audience of the story by Kate Chopin “The Story of an Hour.” Though Mrs Mallard in the story feels free after hearing her husband’s death for a short time Rashmidevi’s happiness and experience of freedom lasts lifelong. She becomes closer to Kamal both physically and spiritually. Has Deep regarded Rashmidevi’s love the same way? One needs to watch the play till the end. The play tries to show the love relationship between the two characters who have differences in their class and caste. With the relationship between the two characters the playwright tries to show the deeply rooted caste based discrimination across the country. “Had Deep not concealed his surname, would he ever have been able to get the room in Rashmidevi’s house, in her heart?” The question raised by Deep makes the audience think deep on caste based discrimination. His question “You purify your home worshiping deities but how can you purify your body?” is thought provoking. The young Deep’s role is played by Sagar Khati Kami while Pabitra Khadka has fit in the role of Rashmidevi. Khadka is bold in her role. The sensual roles she has played is a brilliant watch on stage. The chemistry between Kami and Khadka goes well in the play till the end. The play is more dialogue centric. Shah’s powerful dialogues satire on gender based violence. Long form of dialogues, punches, both comic and satire makes the audience serious and laugh out loud. The design of the stage is captivating. Two storeyed design of the stage where the past events are shown on the top and the present are shown on the ground floor is apt to show how we are triggered by our memories. The characters in the upper storey and lower storey communicating in the last scenes makes one feel the character analyzing and thinking to give an exit to the past incidents. The use of music and poem add colors in the play. Nepali Translation of the poem “Traveling through the Dark” by William E. Stafford is symbolic as it reflects the speaker’s inability to make a critical decision. As the speaker in the poem undergoes a dilemma to take the decision the character Deep too is in dilemma to conclude whether his relation with Rashmidevi was an erotic or pragmatic. Directed by Prabin Khatiwada and written by Ghimire Yubaraj the play Bimoksha: The salvation is the perfect title given to question on being free from the past events. One of the interesting things to watch on Shilpee Theatre’s production is stage design and use of props. The stage is designed in the shape of vagina giving a symbolic impression of female sexuality. A portrait of Colonel Shyam Kumar Basnet. A cosy sofa, medals won by the colonel, book racks and a double sized bed gives the homely impression. Shah has judged the role of an elderly woman with her role and dialogues. There is a use of bright colors on the second storey while showing the romances between Deep and Rashmidevi. Light colors are used in the conversations between Deep and Muma Hajur The play of the red colors has been more symbolic in the play. A color of protest and a color to show one’s love both have been well depicted with the play of the light in the set. A must watch play. The play Bimoksha is staged every day at 5:30 pm except Tuesdays but with additional shows on Saturdays at 1:00 pm at Shilpee Theatre, Battisputali. It's on stage till April 1.
