Entertainment
Another Chekhov play onstage
Yet another adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s four-act play Three Sisters, Teen Bahini, is currently being staged at Shilpee Theatre in Battisputali, in the Capital.Yet another adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s four-act play Three Sisters, Teen Bahini, is currently being staged at Shilpee Theatre in Battisputali, in the Capital.
Prior to this, One World Theatre’s adaptation of the play was staged at Kunja Theatre in Thapagaun, directed by Rose Schwietz. While the earlier adaptation was rendered in English, the ongoing adaptation, Teen Bahini, is rendered in Nepali. Teen Bahini is translated into Nepali by Meghraj Adhikari and directed by Ghanashyam Shrestha.
The play tells the story of three sisters—Abha, Maya and Rina (the names changed from the original)—who jointly plot a return to their birth place, and the people and circumstances that act as appendages that hold the three sisters in the town.
Director Shrestha had planned the play’s staging two years ago. As planned the play was scheduled to be staged at Theatre Mall, but the theatre house unfortunately shuttered their gates last year.
Shrestha tells the Post about the play’s genesis, “I have always been an avid fan of Chekhov’s plays and writing in general. What I like about Chekhov’s work is the characterisations—almost all of Chekhov’s work features characters that are very close to reality and are universal; every one living in any part of the world can relate to his characters, and they also carry some philosophical subtext.” Shrestha went on, “Besides that, the motif of the play is in itself compelling today, as it was back then. With the exponential progress of science and technology and rising gentrification, the movement from a rural city to a major city is hardly a new phenomenon. So I found the play apt to today’s context and reflective of our own country.”
Shrestha is the director of several plays such as Abhi Subedi’s Bimba ka Sapana Haru and Yo Kunai Baas ho Ek; and Bed Number 99 (all of the three plays were staged at Theatre Mall).
Teen Bahini features actors such as Shanti Giri, Sushma Koirala, Sunisha Bajgain, Shyam Khadka, Anna Deuja, Ghimire Yubaraj, Jeevan Baral, Shri Om Rodan, Vikas Joshi, Arjun Neupane, and Asmita Khanal, among others.
The play will be staged until May 26 every day (except for Tuesdays) at 5:30 at Gothale Natakghar in Shilpee, Battisputali.