Entertainment
Yonika kathaharu kicks off with positive response
Yonika Kathaharu (The Vagina Monologues), a bilingual play, that brings to stage a compilation of real stories of women is currently being staged at Nepal Tourism Board, in Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu.Sandesh Ghimire
Yonika Kathaharu (The Vagina Monologues), a bilingual play, that brings to stage a compilation of real stories of women is currently being staged at Nepal Tourism Board, in Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu. The performance is part of a global V-Day movement, which started in 1998 and is being staged in more than 140 countries around the world. Produced by Katha Ghera, this is the third annual staging of Yonika Kathaharu in Nepal.
Written by American Playwright and activist Eve Ensler, the play brings forth stories of identity crises, sexual frustration, and violence that women are regularly subjugated to. Performed by 14 actors, the stories are told in 15 different episodes. The issues that regularly afflict the life of women take the form of stories, which the actors convey through stories which ranged from lighthearted humour, making the audience burst in laughter, to distressing stories of violence inflicted upon women by their near and dear ones. To which the Saturday afternoon audience reacted with contemplative silence. After the performance, a male performer, Niranjan Kunwar, walked up to the stage and read out a poem. “May I be a man who creates space rather than dominates it/ A man who seeks kindness over control/ A man who refuses the slap, the gun, the choke, the insult , the punch...,” reads an excerpt of the poem.
“There were some stories that I really related to,” Srijana Bhattarai, one of the audience members, said, in a conversation with the Post, “I really hope that more men come and watch the play.” Bhattarai, who resides in Urlabari, Morang, and was visiting relatives in Kathmandu, also remarked that at the beginning of the play, it was very discomforting because the performers were using the word ‘vagina’ with the kind of ease that she had never experienced while talking about her sexuality.
“The play made me realise that it would require such ‘bold’ moves on the part of women, if they are to make space for themselves,” Bhattarai shared, “In the village where I grew up, violence on women is still socially accepted, and I think this play would have a greater impact were it also taken to the rural areas.”
The play will be on stage until March 6 at Nepal Tourism Board. There will also be a special performance on March 8 at the Evoke Café in Jhamsikhel to coincide with International Women’s Day.