The background is abuzz with a hip-hop number as five women dance in sync to the beat of the rhythm. As the music stops and the spotlight falls on the stage, we learn that we are inside the Ladies’ Corner: A restaurant run exclusively by the women who were swaying their hips to the music. This, however, is not just any women-run eatery; the restaurant cheekily reserves seats for men—Purus Aarakshan.

Among the operators of the restaurant—women who have suffered one way or the other in our patriarchal society—we find our protagonist, Yuma, played by the director, Srijana Subba herself. Yuma is a young mother who has been living by herself since her husband left to find employment—while she was pregnant with their first child. Since then, their relationship has been limited to the virtual world of Skype. That, however, does not stop him from constantly trying to control her life.

Mandala Theatre’s latest production—Yuma—written by Yug Pathak, re-imagines the gender roles at play in Nepali society and more importantly, it shows us, with its seamless narration, how a woman claims an identity of her own in a society ruled by men.

Yuma’s setting is largely confined to the peculiar restaurant, Ladies’ Corner, which is adorned meticulously with symbols that are rooted to the Kirati culture: for example, the charkha that acts as a door to the café. In the Kirati culture, Yuma is the foremost goddess; she is the deity of freedom and the teacher of civilisation. Yuma is single. She is free, and she is a rebel.

One day, a musician named Rangeen Raag (played by Ankit Khadka) visits the cafe. A charming fellow, he is quick to win hearts at the restaurant, and it is only a matter of time before Yuma is attracted to him and him her. They get infatuated and the plot thickens.

As the lust between Yuma and Rangeen Raag deepens, Yuma’s husband Sundar (played by Sulakshan Bharati), tries to possess Yuma and her body, even though he is a thousand miles away. In a spit of rage, he even accuses Yuma of sleeping with other men. Exhausted by being constantly caught in the line of fire in a society that gives little space to women, Yuma takes it on herself to define her life on her own terms.

Subba’s Yuma re-creates the characters in a modern perspective and places it squarely in the current Nepali society. The play seeks to examine the ground reality of how patriarchy is responsible for the suppression of women. The ace ensemble of Srijana Subba and Ankit Khadka, along with Pashupati Rai, Sulakshan Bharati, Jeevan Bhattarai, and Laxmi Bardewa, among others, plays out the message wonderfully.

Srijana’s Subba, who has been part of the Nepali theatre scene for more than a decade, juggles both of her roles as a director and an actor with ease. Portraying a forlorn yet rebellious character as Yuma, Subba delivers a restrained, understated performance. Equally notable is Pashupati Rai’s role as a communist lawmaker, who previously served as a combatant in the 10-year long Maoist insurgency. The playwright has put her on a relatively sympathetic light, and Rai stays true her role.

While bearing testament to the current Nepali society, the play also raises some important issues that could well contribute to the well-being of the society at large.

The intriguing play is rich in its use of metaphors from the Kirant culture, especially notable is the Shahi Baaj, the regal eagle that holds a special place in the Kiranti imagination. It becomes clear during the last scene of the play when Yuma compares herself with the eagle. Humans, after all, are condemned to be free.

The play is currently being staged daily at Mandala Theatre, Anamnagar (except for Mondays) at 5: 15 pm, and will be on till June 13.