By Tashi Wangchuk
Aku Tonpa Theatre Group, a newly formed Tibetan theatre unit, named after a legendry witty Tibetan character, presented their maiden play- “Tsewa Marey” meaning this is not love at Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, Dharamsala on July 6, coinciding with the Dalai Lama’s 72nd Birthday celebration.
The play is written, directed and produced by Chevee, a well known stage actor from TCV community. Story of the play, Tsewa Marey is set in a Tibetan family in India where a naughty boy Agloe, his illiterate parents and a caring brother, Jorgay enjoy a harmonious family life until an unattended substance addiction in young Agloe shatters their loving family bond into a chilling atmosphere.
Unexpectedly, Agloe has become a habitual consumer of a solution, an evaporable spirited substance that many Tibetan teenagers consume these days for its sheer intoxicating effect. His elder brother, Jorgay strives hard to dissuade his brother from taking the stuff. Meanwhile, Jorgay and their mother feel detested with Agloe’s distasteful habit and it continues to produce strain in their family.
Set against the family story background, genre of the play is unarguably comedy with heavy doses of social messages. Given that it is their maiden production, I would definitely assign three stars if not four out of five. The pace of the story is persuasive with typical Chevee comedy flicks.
As the play progresses, you never know when you are going to laugh. “I met a bear when I was on my way to TCV School, it didn’t attack me, why? Because I produced my RC.” was one of my favourite lines among the many.
The scene where the innocent mother watches her son consuming the intoxicating stuff was exceptionally hilarious.
I will recommend this play to anyone who is down with high blood pressure for it makes one go ga-ga till the end. However, I wish the play a little bit shorter. The performances of every actor; especially Chevee, Tsenor and Meela were commendable. The stage decoration and arts definitely help to push the story forward. The play has no background music. When one of the artistes was asked about it, he replied wondering, “We’ve deliberately chosen the scheme to give the story a realistic and raw feel.” The nearby artiste who overheard our conversation nods his head in approval; feeling happy about the former’s smart and quick answer.
To engage viewers all the way through, the curtain remains open till the end. This is definitely not a bad idea to glue the audience to their seat.
To sum up, I found the play engaging, well composed and entertaining. Good job! Keep it up. I will definitely be waiting for the group’s next flick that they have promised to come up with.
Tashi Wangchuk is a Tibetan filmmaker, whose work, along with co-director Tsultrim Dorjee, includes Tibetan romantic comedies like Phun Anu Thanu and the recently released Richard Gere Is My Hero
