Binaya Ghimire

I left Kathmandu and came to live in my ancestral home about six years ago. My ancestral home is a small village about 8 kilometres away from the nearby town. The town itself is very small, with no fanfare. However, I don’t miss Kathmandu much. Kathmandu is dirty, polluted, and crowded. The only thing I miss is live theatre. When I was in Kathmandu, I was a regular theatregoer. I was regular at Gurukul, Theatre Village, Mandala, Sarvanam and Silpie. Whenever there was National or International Theatre Festival organised by different theatre groups, it was like Dashain to me. Here in my place, live theatre does not exist.
I am not much abreast with the theatre activities in Kathmandu in the last six years. However, what I am certain is it has become stagnant. The vibrant theatre group Gurukul has shut down its theatre activities. A very promising theatre company Theatre Village has shrank. It is really sad that theatre activities in Kathmandu have gone down.
If someone tries to document the modern theatre history of Nepal, Aarohan-Gurukul will perhaps take the centre stage. Aarohan-Gurukul not only diversified proscenium theatre, but also took theatre to the people by performing street plays and community plays. Aarohan Theatre Group was established in 1982.
During its active years, Aarohan Theatre Group created highly artistic plays for the proscenium theatre and socially committed theatre for the streets and villages. Aarohan Theatre Group organised national and international theatre festivals at regular intervals. It trained and produced workforce for Nepali theatre. Aarohan Theatre Group ran a theatre centre and a theatre school in Kathmandu. Interestingly, some of the highly successful movie actors are the products of Aarohan-Gurukul.
Gurukul School of Theatre was established by Aarohan Theatre Group in 2003. Gurukul not only organised theatre workshops and national and international interactions on theatre but also had an apprentice programme for theatre novices. Aarohan-Gurukul also partnered with international theatre groups and theatre workers to produce highly artistic plays, and train workforce for Nepali theatre. Aarohan-Gurukul mapped Nepali theatre in the world theatre by performing in India, China, Bangladesh, Thailand, Russia, Korea, Norway and Denmark.
Aarohan Theatre Group and its division Gurukul offered a two-year residential programme on theatre (World Drama, South Asian Theatre, Nepali Theatre; acting, direction, choreography, light, stage, scene design etc.), workshops and short courses on theatre, theatre and musical performances, interactions on visual art, and theatre festivals
Aarohan Theatre Group was also very active in politics, it participated in pro-democracy movements in 1990 and 2006. Sadly, none of the democratic governments helped Aarohan-Gurukul when it was forced to move from the rented space.
Aarohan Theatre Group was also involved with TV shows. Aarohan produced 15 TV series for Nepal Television. The films and documentaries by Aarohan Theatre Group have been subtitled and used internationally. Aarohan Theatre Group also produced numerous Radio Dramas, which have been broadcasted all over Nepal. Some of the radio dramas are as long as 136 episodes. During its active years, Aarohan-Gurukul’s publication division published numerous books on theatre and visual arts.
Aarohan-Gurukul was a beautiful blend between theatre for social change and proscenium. Aarohan-Gurukul performed proscenium theatre, forum theatre and street theatre and operated regular shows in Nepal.