With the aim of collecting outstanding folk stories and plays from diverse Nepali communities, Mandala Theatre-Nepal is organizing Playwriting Project 2022.
Nepal has diverse cultural and geographical locations where communities carry their own unique cultural identities. Nepali folklore, arts and culture has its own style, value, and identity. In every community there are many stories, untold and hidden, yet with relevant and meaningful messages of social transformation, stopping any kind of discrimination and violence. However, there is dearth of opportunities to hone those stories.
With the Playwriting Project 2022, Mandala Theatre-Nepal is putting an effort to collect those stories from communities in a respectful and sensitive way and to make the best theatre productions highlighting their potentials of connecting to basic human needs and desires to make Nepali narrative renowned across the globe. With support of Civil Peace Service, Mandala aims to collect at least 1 play concept out of stories somehow related to support social transformation from each province of Nepal and develop the stories into play scripts and theatre productions. The concept for the play can be of any style like tragedy, comedy, experimental etc.
Playwriting Project 2022 invites passionate and enthusiastic writers from all 7 provinces of Nepal to submit the stories from their localities together with the ideas how to transform the stories into play script. The stories should be local, unique, and somehow celebrating cultures focusing conflict transformation, peacebuilding and social change. Mandala will select total 7 stories and ideas (1 from each province) to bring forward with mentorship and grant opportunities. All selected writers would be provided with support to write their plays through a workshop and a moderate token fee (NPR 60,000/- each) after they complete the project.
Selected 7 writers would be invited to join an online orientation session in July 2022 where they are provided with skills to strengthen their ideas into play script by mentors and organizing team. They would be further provided with a local cultural expert to support them integrating appropriate cultural aspects in their plays. After the work with local cultural expert, 7 writers will develop the first draft of their play scripts and send to mentors. Mentors will provide their feedback on developed scripts. Mandala will organize an online playwriting workshop in August to further strengthen the skills of writers. After the workshop, writers work on developing the second draft of their scripts. A 15-day long residential workshop in Kathmandu will be held in first half of September, where all writers, mentors and project team stay together to work on their respective scripts. Mentors and project team would provide their final feedback and inputs on the scripts and the writers prepare and submit their final scripts. The plays can be written either in Nepali or in local language.
These 7 representative plays from 7 provinces penned by local play writers will be later published in a book in local/Nepali and English language.
Mandala Theatre-Nepal will choose 1 out of 7 plays to make a theatre production in 2022 which will be staged as the opening play of 2nd edition of Nepal International Theatre Festival in November 2022.
If you are a passionate theatre writer (established or rising) from any province of Nepal you can participate in this project by sending your IDEA/CONCEPT to us. The IDEA/CONCEPT should answer following questions:
Format of Concept for Playwriting Project 2022
- What is the story? Give a summary. (Maximum 1 page)
- What is your concept/ your idea on how to transform it into a play? Give details about the content, theme, main characters, setting, conflict and dialogue style of the play.
- How do you plan to reflect your cultural and specifically ethnic background in the play?
- How do you want to address social transformation, the change of discriminating circumstances and actions, in your play?
- What is your previous experience about play writing? Is there any play written by you that has already been staged? Or any story that has been published?
Please send your concept answering the questions above and personal details to mpbt@mandalatheatre.com by no later than 10th June 2022.
If you have further queries, feel free to call the project coordinator Mr. Trilok Sharma via his mobile number 9860626022.
