KATHMANDU, Sept 19: 'Jalini' is a fictional tale based during the era of the despotic king, Jayasthiti (Bijay Baral). The play staged under Dayahang Rai’s directorial is a dramatized version of Jalini which is one of the short stories included in Dhruba Satya Pariyar’s short story anthology ‘Kairan’.

The story revolves around princess Jalini (Binita Gurung) -- the only daughter of the king. At birth, the princess is prophesized to be blessed with all the qualities to live a successful life. The family prophets also predict that the first man whoever she paints the picture of would have a great influence over the kingdom. The king secludes the princess inside the palace walls and orders every male guard to conceal their faces with masks while approaching the princess. Although the king tries his hardest, the story takes an unpredictable turn when the princess mistakenly encounters a young man, Jayan (Pushkar Karki) who severely affect the chain of events that occur in the kingdom.

The play gracefully takes the spectators to historical times when the tradition of slavery system (Daas and kamaiya) is highly rampant among the member of the lower social classes. The laborious scenario of the time is well imitated. Moreover, the reflections of gender disparity and male-dominated society are strongly presented on different occasions in the play. The heavy dialogues complimented by intense expressions and emotional outbreaks make the play realistic. A well-suited chemistry and synchronization between the characters highly connect them with the spectators.

Although the play had strong performances with larger-than-life characters, the least usage of props seemed to compromise with the charm of the play. The repetitive actions of the workers carried out for a long time somewhat appeared monotonous. The characters essaying multiple roles were fascinating to watch. “The only challenge I felt was that to do justice with both of my characters which were absolutely contrasting. But I feel relieved to have received positive feedback on it,” said one of the pivotal characters, Sirjana Subba.

“Instead of the props, we thought of investing maximum efforts on the performance of the character which we hope to have carried out efficiently. The play had many symbols, metaphors, and sarcasm used in many of the scenes,” said Dhruba Satya Pariyar. “Although it has adopted a fictional medium, it portrays the reflections and occurrences that are prevalent in our society,” added Pariyar.

The play will be staged everyday till October 7 at 5:30 pm except for Wednesdays at Mandala Theater, Anamnagar.