An ongoing play at Sarwanam Theatre depicts the woes of women in the Nepali society, and has no verbal dialogue, which is an attempt to reflect the fact that women have no voice within the social and cultural sphere. Titled, The Witch, the play is directed by a Fulbright scholar, Peter Seifarth, and is a culmination of his research on non-verbal physical theatre.

“The play emerged out of an acting workshop, that Peter and I had conducted,” assistant director RK Mehta Roshan said, in a conversation with the Post, “During the workshop, the cast and the crew were discussing a wide array of issues, but the lives of women was always at the fore, so we collectively came up with the present story.”

To have a non-verbal play in Kathmandu’s theatre circuit, Roshan informed, is also an attempt to be different and add a universal appeal to the play. “We hope that our play will be attractive to those who have stayed away from theatres because of language barriers,” Roshan said.

Various light techniques and body movements have been employed to make symbolic gestures throughout the play, and the play is being performed by an ensemble cast of RK Mehta Roshan, Samrant Thapa, Roshani Syangbo, and Mani K Rai.  In the words of the assistant director, the play deals with incidences where women are blamed for something that they have no part in. “When a woman gets married into a family, and if something goes bad then the woman is automatically blamed for the accident, nobody considers that it was mere co-incidence,” Roshan said to emphasise that the play deals with a similar story.

Though the play is non-verbal, at the end the actors prompt a discussion based on a question that arises at the end of the play. Such discussions are necessary, Roshan said, if theatre is to have an active agency in bringing about a positive change in the Nepali society.

The play will be staged  daily, except for Thursdays until February 10.