Mandala Theatre is going to have a special show of the play ‘WOUNDS OF WAR 2.0’ on Wednesday, 30th August 2023 as part of its annual event Memory 30th August, to commemorate the international day against enforced disappearance.
Memory 30th August is a program conceived together by theatre artists and family members of peoples who were made disappeared during the decade long armed conflict in Nepal to commemorate the international day against enforced disappearance. Mandala Theatre-Nepal has been organizing various programs on this day since 2015. In close coordination with the family members and other stakeholders, Mandala invites artists, activists and mass audiences to a common platform to express their solidarity on the issues of family through artistic expressions.
Wounds of War 2.0 revolves around the consequences of unresolved issues of forceful disappearance, sexual violence, dismemberment, displacement in the ten-year long armed conflict in Nepal. In the hypothesis of ‘New & Prosperous Nepal’, the physical and psycho-social wounds have been faded away. This play does not intend to traumatize the survivors or victims, rather to create a realization that the wounds still exist.
This play has been created by the graduates of first batch of Mandala Drama School – Theatre for Social Change, Conflict Transformation and Peace-building.‘Wounds of War 2.0’ is a neo-version of the play ‘Wounds of War’ created by the same team during the schooling. The play was staged at the prestigious Academic Thespians Theatre Festival organized by University of Visual and Performing Arts, Colombo, Sri Lanka at Panibharatha Theatre on 24th July 2023 and was staged regularly at Mandala Studio during the first week of August for regular audiences.
Synopsis:
A river flowing with its melody suddenly stops and observes herself. She finds herself deviated, polluted and dis-colored. She returns back to find the history of her filth, where she has an encounter with the survivors of the ten years long violent armed conflict of Nepal (Moist Insurgency) who once were victims of forceful disappearance, sexual violence, displacement, and physical torture. On the other hand, the shameless ruling power, politicizing these issues, announces the establishment of peace in the in the country.
