'FreezeFrame ' acclaimed for it's playwright and winner of 32nd Annual Playwright Contest was staged at Wilner Auditorium at WSU. Penned by Deborah Yarchun and directed by Dannette Baker, the play focused on issue of lost college going youths in the hi-tech world.
The plot revolves around the four characters of the play: Paul, Aliyah, Mark and Brianna. Paul, a photographer as well, lives with a dark secret in his heart. He prefers to remain introvert.Paul darkest secret turns out to be the charge he had faced of molesting his brothers, whom he says he loved, for taking their nude bathing photo. His consciousness of guilt constrains him from admitting his faith on God and love to his girlfriend, Brianna. Brianna, a fashion major, is always anxious as if she's not got what she ought to. Her desire turns out to be sexual as Mark makes her consious of it. Mark, a careless freak, loves the company of video games and marijuana and saucy relationship with women. Aliyah, cold and murderous, is omniscient and omnipresent. She is in mission to what she calls "freezing the man's soul". She eventually changes into a normal person with mortal emotions and feelings. The play ends as the time arrives when Mark uses his invetion to go back to the past.
The plot was mediocre but the message was loud and clear. The issue of sexuality, change and inhumanity in this hi-tech world was not tough to infer and easily tackled. The play was beautifully staged with artistic set design . The division of stage to show different places belonging to character and performing simultaneously at the same time was praisworthy as well as bewildering. The actors gave superb performance; applauded for a long time by the viewers. Light, costumes and multimedia were used beautifully to flow the plot, playing the part of fifth character. The dialogues were full of jargons, slangs and one-liners to strongly redeem the lacklustre of the plot while the monologues were used to gauge the depth of the matter.
Overall, the playwright didn't stand upto the acclaimed it had recieved but a beautiful play to watch. A lot of confusion but entertaining and sensous.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
AN ALIEN
An Alien
I was elated to find an empty space
That stretched far away to the infinity.
The sky seemed to touch the ground
And I wanted to rush and meet the sky,
I wanted to lie and cry in freedom.
I had never had space for me.
When I was born only had my mom's lap.
I grew and stood in the no man's land like a refugee.
When I saw this space I thought I had now my own identity.
I ran wildly to find what I had been missin in my life.
But they came.
One of them said, "It's my space."
So I left and moved but another came
And said, "It's mine. Get lost."
I moved and they came and I moved again.
There was no space for me here.
My earth was not mine.
So I left them alone
And moved out of the Earth.
Nowadays they call me Alien.
Friday, November 03, 2006
LEARNING THINGS
There was commotion heard around early in the morning. Mr. Upreti couldn’t lie on the bed just hearing it. He was more than any other human being in his curiosity. He put on his clothes and was out quickly. He saw people peering out of the windows and doors while some others were out on the road to witness this unknown event.
“What’s the matter?” he showed his genuine curiosity.
Somebody readily answered readily, “ There is a leopard in that house.” (He pointed the house while Mr. Upreti looked at it.) “It has already attacked a woman.”
“Have you seen it?” he wanted to confirm.
“No but they say it’s really big.” He replied somewhat hesitantly.
Mr. Upreti rushed back to his room and asked hastily:
“ Where is my khukuri? Give it. Fast. There is a big leopard and has attacked a woman. Such nasty beast.”
“Why should you go? It might attack you too. Don’t go.” His wife tried to prevent him but he ignored her and was seen leaping in the street to get that nasty beast.
“Where is papa?” seven year old Upreti Jr. asked his mom as soon as he opened his eyes.
“He has gone out.” She consoled.
“Where?” he demanded.
“They say there is a big leopard in somebody’s house. So he has gone to kill it.”
He thought a while.
“Where did it come from? Did it runaway from the zoo?”
“I don’t know. It might have come from the nearby jungle.”
“Why did it come?”
She didn’t reply while he fantasized the fight between his dad and the leopard.
“Is it necessary to kill it?” he continued to inquire.
“Yes. They are very dangerous. And you know it has already hurt a woman.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Upreti with his khukuri smeared with blood, entered the room. His armed could be seen bleeding from the wound he succumbed in the fight.
Upreti Jr.’s blood roused when he saw the wound and blood. He jumped and went near him and asked instantly:
“Did you kill it?”
“Yes.”
“How big was it?”
“It was just a cub. Baby of a leopard. You can look yourself.” (Showing out of the window) “See they are taking the corpse.”
“It looks like a cat.”
“No. It’s a leopard.”
“Why did we have to kill that baby leopard?”
“Oh! They are very dangerous- these nasty beasts. See it hurt your papa and an old lady.”
“Why did it come here?”
“I don’t know maybe it lost its way.”
“Why did it attack?”
“ It’s their nature. They attack anybody they see.”
He seemed to have understood something and to be sure he asked:
“Why don’t you kill all the leopards? Other might come to attack as well.”
It seemed a funny proposal to be answered and as a matter of fact he was irked by all these questions because the wound had started to cause pain. He asked wife for anti-septic lotion and put bandage around the arm. The issue ended as it was holiday and the Upreti family was lost in the holiday routine. Mr. Upreti took newspaper while his wife started to cut vegetables and Upreti Jr. started to build house of the blocks.
“See more people killed. The situation is worsening. They say it’s not war but still people are killed, robbed…Oh! What’ll happen to this country?” Mr. Upreti commented after reading the front page of the local newspaper. His wife, cutting vegetables, remained silent. Upreti Jr. seemed to be lost, as he didn’t have any questions.
“How can one believe other if these atrocities continue to happen?” he sighed and looked to his wife for reaction.
She spoke to his expectation, “What’ll people do when there is no work to do?”
“You are right but it’ll only make things worse. How can one live when one’s uncertain that there is nobody to attack him and he’s secure. I think we must start to carry weapon to defend ourselves ” He sounded real philosopher. He left the room with these remarks.
Everything seemed to go normal until Upreti Jr. was heard crying “No. No” in the middle of the night. Both the parents woke up and tried to calm their son:
“What happened boy? Was it a bad dream?”
“Yes. A big leopard came and stared at me. It took me in its paws and threatened to kill me because it says, “Your father killed my baby”. And I said “No. No, don’t kill me.” He was stammering with fear and eyes full of tear. Mr. Upreti was wordless. He embraced him tightly and made him sleep with his warmth.
A new beautiful day. Upreti Jr. might have forgotten the nightmare since he was as joyous as ever. Mr. Upreti was content with his son’s playfulness while only Mrs. Upreti was upset since she couldn’t find the knife to prepare food so she had to take out spare one. Mr. Upreti left Upreti Jr. to his school and went to office while Mrs. Upreti had to engage herself on the chores.
In the afternoon telephone rang in Mr. Upreti’s office. He gladly received the caller from his son’s school only to know that his son had caused a real serious problem. Hence, he ran to the school piling all his works.
At school he met his son in full of tears and his hand smeared with blood. “Papa! You have come.” He tried to regain his confidence. He inquired the principal and other teachers, who were surrounding him and looking pale, flabbergasted by the situation.
“Your son attacked his classmate with a knife and injured him seriously. We had to rush him to hospital in emergency.” Reported the principal.
Upreti Jr concealed the actual cause of the act in the dark corner of his heart. It seemed weird to Mr. Upreti how his son could attack anybody. But it’s obvious that Upreti Jr. had learnt something.
“What’s the matter?” he showed his genuine curiosity.
Somebody readily answered readily, “ There is a leopard in that house.” (He pointed the house while Mr. Upreti looked at it.) “It has already attacked a woman.”
“Have you seen it?” he wanted to confirm.
“No but they say it’s really big.” He replied somewhat hesitantly.
Mr. Upreti rushed back to his room and asked hastily:
“ Where is my khukuri? Give it. Fast. There is a big leopard and has attacked a woman. Such nasty beast.”
“Why should you go? It might attack you too. Don’t go.” His wife tried to prevent him but he ignored her and was seen leaping in the street to get that nasty beast.
“Where is papa?” seven year old Upreti Jr. asked his mom as soon as he opened his eyes.
“He has gone out.” She consoled.
“Where?” he demanded.
“They say there is a big leopard in somebody’s house. So he has gone to kill it.”
He thought a while.
“Where did it come from? Did it runaway from the zoo?”
“I don’t know. It might have come from the nearby jungle.”
“Why did it come?”
She didn’t reply while he fantasized the fight between his dad and the leopard.
“Is it necessary to kill it?” he continued to inquire.
“Yes. They are very dangerous. And you know it has already hurt a woman.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Upreti with his khukuri smeared with blood, entered the room. His armed could be seen bleeding from the wound he succumbed in the fight.
Upreti Jr.’s blood roused when he saw the wound and blood. He jumped and went near him and asked instantly:
“Did you kill it?”
“Yes.”
“How big was it?”
“It was just a cub. Baby of a leopard. You can look yourself.” (Showing out of the window) “See they are taking the corpse.”
“It looks like a cat.”
“No. It’s a leopard.”
“Why did we have to kill that baby leopard?”
“Oh! They are very dangerous- these nasty beasts. See it hurt your papa and an old lady.”
“Why did it come here?”
“I don’t know maybe it lost its way.”
“Why did it attack?”
“ It’s their nature. They attack anybody they see.”
He seemed to have understood something and to be sure he asked:
“Why don’t you kill all the leopards? Other might come to attack as well.”
It seemed a funny proposal to be answered and as a matter of fact he was irked by all these questions because the wound had started to cause pain. He asked wife for anti-septic lotion and put bandage around the arm. The issue ended as it was holiday and the Upreti family was lost in the holiday routine. Mr. Upreti took newspaper while his wife started to cut vegetables and Upreti Jr. started to build house of the blocks.
“See more people killed. The situation is worsening. They say it’s not war but still people are killed, robbed…Oh! What’ll happen to this country?” Mr. Upreti commented after reading the front page of the local newspaper. His wife, cutting vegetables, remained silent. Upreti Jr. seemed to be lost, as he didn’t have any questions.
“How can one believe other if these atrocities continue to happen?” he sighed and looked to his wife for reaction.
She spoke to his expectation, “What’ll people do when there is no work to do?”
“You are right but it’ll only make things worse. How can one live when one’s uncertain that there is nobody to attack him and he’s secure. I think we must start to carry weapon to defend ourselves ” He sounded real philosopher. He left the room with these remarks.
Everything seemed to go normal until Upreti Jr. was heard crying “No. No” in the middle of the night. Both the parents woke up and tried to calm their son:
“What happened boy? Was it a bad dream?”
“Yes. A big leopard came and stared at me. It took me in its paws and threatened to kill me because it says, “Your father killed my baby”. And I said “No. No, don’t kill me.” He was stammering with fear and eyes full of tear. Mr. Upreti was wordless. He embraced him tightly and made him sleep with his warmth.
A new beautiful day. Upreti Jr. might have forgotten the nightmare since he was as joyous as ever. Mr. Upreti was content with his son’s playfulness while only Mrs. Upreti was upset since she couldn’t find the knife to prepare food so she had to take out spare one. Mr. Upreti left Upreti Jr. to his school and went to office while Mrs. Upreti had to engage herself on the chores.
In the afternoon telephone rang in Mr. Upreti’s office. He gladly received the caller from his son’s school only to know that his son had caused a real serious problem. Hence, he ran to the school piling all his works.
At school he met his son in full of tears and his hand smeared with blood. “Papa! You have come.” He tried to regain his confidence. He inquired the principal and other teachers, who were surrounding him and looking pale, flabbergasted by the situation.
“Your son attacked his classmate with a knife and injured him seriously. We had to rush him to hospital in emergency.” Reported the principal.
Upreti Jr concealed the actual cause of the act in the dark corner of his heart. It seemed weird to Mr. Upreti how his son could attack anybody. But it’s obvious that Upreti Jr. had learnt something.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
