| ashu |
Posted
on 26-Apr-01 12:56 AM
Hi all,
The theater scene is getting lively in Kathmnandu.
Last week, Hotel Bajra put on a 2-and-half-hour
long play in English: "Pancha Tantra", with
the cast drawn from the Hotel ko staff and few
professional theater-actors from outside. The
hall at Bajra was packed, mostly by the expats.
Though the play itself (based on Pancha Tantra stories)
was okay, I thought the set was very well-designed
and the costumes were quite creatively made. Sabine
Lehman, who has been the force behind Bajra's annual
theater productions for the last 10 years or so,
deserves kudos for her all her impressive work.
I didn't know this before, but Hotel Bajra seems
to have quite a reputation among writers and artists
(both Nepali and non-Nepalis) as a quite, peaceful
place to get their creative juices flowing. So, you
GBNC poets and writers, you may wish to check out
Bajra next time you are home.
Likewise, Sunil Pokharel put on the ancient Greek
play (in Nepali) "King Oedipus" at the Royal Nepal Academy
Hall. The public really was not really informed
(why, I don't know), and the hall was half-empty.
But the script was superb; the acting, solid and, over
all, the play was stunningly good. I came away thoroughly
impressed by Sunil's talents as a director; after all,
it's not an easy task to convert a stage in Kathmnandu
into an ancient Western court-yard and more.
Sure, the politics in Nepal is khattam with the
capital K. But with just-announced econnomy growth
of 5.5 per cent and with all these arts initiatives
happening, things are not as bad in Nepal as most
of the politics-obsessed newspaper headlines made
out to be.
Just my opinion.
oohi
ashu
|
| Biswo |
Posted
on 26-Apr-01 01:22 AM
Dear Ashu:
Your info on play and Vajra was great. But this news caught my
attention :
>
Sure, the politics in Nepal is khattam with the
capital K. But with just-announced econnomy growth
of 5.5 per cent and with all these arts initiatives
happening, things are not as bad in Nepal as most
of the politics-obsessed newspaper headlines made out to be.
I think we last got that much growth rate in 1994, when it
was 5.4%, but we couldn't sustain the growth rate after then.
It precipitiously went down to 2. something, 3.something. I am
afraid the new result may be either because of a result of
'irrational exuberance' in some particular sector(IT, or Carpet),
or a result of fabricated data. There is a big challenge
ahead, considering overall economic outlook of the nation.
Industrial output is not very good, and tourism sector is bound
to suffer if the governance remains such unstable.GNP may be
rising because of popular participation in economic sector, but
government's lackadaisical attitude in deregulation of several
productive private sectors will pinnacle grassroot capability
and the country may as well be growing at the rate of 2.something,
3.something.
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