The Belbari Pragna Pratishthan is hosting an international theater festival in Belbari, Morang, with notable participation from local students. The festival has attracted local educators, artists, and social workers, alongside students from schools and campuses.
Running for three days, the festival features plays by theatre artists from Nepal, India, and Japan. Two plays are being staged each day, as shared by the festival director, Bikash Budhathoki.
The festival, organized under the active involvement of Mandala Theater’s director, Somnath Khanal, will showcase six plays. It aims to promote the development and recognition of local artists and the theatrical field, with similar festivals also being held in Chitwan and Pokhara.
According to Kulprasad Baral, the secretary of Belbari Pragna Pratishthan, the festival will also include cultural displays, workshops, and interactive academic activities.
On the first day, Sunday, the plays ‘School,’ directed by Jeevan Baral and Bikash Budhathoki, and ‘Aboriginal Cry,’ prepared by an Indian team, were performed. The latter portrays the struggles of displaced people from the Manipur region in India.
Somnath Khanal, the director of Mandala Theater, expressed confidence that this first-ever theater festival in Belbari, eastern Nepal, would help highlight local artists and theater practitioners and contribute to the growth and promotion of the overall theatrical field.
