Khariko Ghero : A review
Went to watch "Khariko Ghero" in Gurukul. It is the Nepali adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” written almost six decades ago! The play is divided into five scenes and presents two intertwined stories. The first story is about a maid Ganga who steals the baby prince at the times of upheaval in the kingdom and saves it from the rebels to raise it as her own son despite of myriads of difficulties she faces.
The second story is about Akkal Bahadur, a drunkard who is appointed as a judge in a comical series of events. He makes decisions that are rather unconventional and in strict sense against the set of laws. His judgments are biased in favor of the poor.
The two stories coincide when Ganga and the queen have a dispute over the custody of Manohar, the baby prince. And the case is brought to Akkal Bahadur.
Having watched quite a lot of plays in Gurukul, I was pleasantly surprised with the much more passionate and lively performances by the actors and even more delighted with the setting of stage and the effects. The scenes of Ganga crossing the river, duck chase were very amusing. Audience were delighted with the ingenuity of the acting and the effects. The music by Night Band was also very pleasing.
The poor aspects of the play included the weak story and and added to the weakness was the poor adaptation. The storyline was a bit difficult to follow since the revolt aspect is vaguely introduced , so are the characters. Next thing, I disapproved of the play was the frequent and unnecessary use of the somewhat vulgar terms and references. The references were quite unnecessary.Only purpose they served was to draw somewhat embarrassed chuckles from the audience which I believe is not very desirable from a play. The poetic justice preached is not desirable but well, that's a personal thing I believe.
Anyway the play is very enjoyable. The performances are amazing and the ingenuity of the effects was especially delighting! Don't miss if you like plays!
