Entertainment
Welcome to La-La Land
Written by Ayush Niroula and directed by Suman Rayamajhi, “Taapu” is a play produced by Pathshala Theatre and is currently running at Shilpee Theatre.Sudeep Baral
The drama, though, begins in the afterworld, in the Department of Moral Stories and Morality Research, which summons the spirit of a dead poet to remember his life and write a story based on it. Why? We’re told that the department has lost its record of the poet’s past life due to some technical error, and now ‘She’ (the Department is referred to as a female) wants to rewrite the poet’s story by making him narrate the whole thing.
But the poet, being a repository of stories, narrates the story of Phedwa, one of the inhabitants of Taapu, whose upbringing as a child and the years that followed are similar to the poet’s own—both the poet and Phedwa have had a lonely childhood without parents which they spent with a bunch of friends.
Anup Sharma, who dons the role of a clerk at the Department, does a superb job quizzing the dead poet and delivering lengthy questions with much flair and clarity.
Further, Sharma is never off stage throughout the play. Even when he is not centrestage, he is there in the corner, playing his musical scores which add the much-needed liveliness to the play which is full of moral, psychological and spiritual issues.
Similarly, Kamal Pyasi Devkota, as Phedwa, seems well-placed in the role of an imbecile who loves to hang around with the other inhabitants of Taapu, who, in this case, are the students from SOS Jorpati School.
However, the story takes a turn after a disagreement arises between Phedwa and his friends. While Phedwa doesn’t want to go to the ‘Land of Dreams’ the kids are all in for the trip. What’s in store for the kids in this mysterious land? No one knows. But after all the children are gone, it’s only Phedwa that remains in Taapu.
Taapu will run till Monday. Shows start at 12 pm and 5pm respectively.