The Nepali adaptation of the nineteenth century Indian author Bharatendu Harishchandra’s most famous play Andheri Nagari Chaupat Raja (translating roughly as ‘crazy king rules over a dark kingdom’) is currently being staged at Kunja Theatre in the Capital.

The play is translated, adapted into Nepali, and co-directed by Ashish Ghimire and Sangeet Sapkota. Andheri Nagari Chaupat Raja, a political satire, is Ghimire and Sapkota’s second joint directorial, after A Marriage Proposal, a one-act farce by Anton Chekhov, which was staged at Mandala Theatre in March.

Speaking about the play’s Nepali adaptation, co-director Ghimire said that even though the play was first written in the nineteenth century, they found the context and motifs of the original play surprisingly fitting to modern Nepali politics.

“The protagonist of the play is a hypocritical monarch, unable to stand his ground. The monarch promises much but fails to deliver. Consequently, there is deep instability in his country. How familiar is this to us?” Ghimire said,“We have also tried to give the play a touch of Nepaliness and turned it into a musical.”

Andheri Nagari Chaupat Raja features actors Praku Pandey, Dipendra Shahi, Jiwan Bhattarai, Sanjeev Malla, Shrawan Singh Rana, Sagar Dahal, and Baaraat Limbu, among others. With live music by the duo of Sangeet Sapkota and Monish Niraula.

Andheri Nagari Chaupat Raja is currently on show at Kunja Theatre, in Lekhankunj, Thapagaon, and will be staged till May 12.