Kathmandu । Kantipur English High School (KEHS), Dhumbarahi took the students on the 28th of June to a theatre play organized in Vajra Hotel by the Studio 7. Students from grade one to ten were seen attending the drama titled "Red Peter". This Studio 7 production of Red Peter is an adaptation of Franz Kafka’s “Report to an Academy”, and staged at the Naga Theatre of the hotel by Sabine Lehmann. The group generally stages the performance in the evening at around quarter past seven, but on the special request by the Vice Principal of the school, Mrs. Jerell Morales Shrestha, the group catered to the comfort of the school hour and organized the drama in the afternoon, 1:00 PM to be precise.
"Report to an Academy" written by Frank Kafka, one of the most popular names in the drama genre, is a story about an ape, Red Peter, who was trained to behave like humans, and now he believes he is one. In this one hour fifteen minute play, Peter has to present a report to "The Academy", an organization that trains the ape and oversees the behavior of the "new human/old ape" about his apehood and humanhood. Peter is awestruck by the behavior of the humans towards the animals, but is glad now to be able to share his emotions towards everything from his perspective. The superbly characterized Peter was played extraordinarily by Kundon Shakya.
The students were seen expressing their emotions as required by the drama. The surprise rise in the voice of the actors, the deep pain shown by the "new human", the mockery of "The Academy" towards the animal community were matched by the enthusiasm shown by the students. It was later made profound when the students posed various questions related to the play. All the people related to the play were present on the stage after they ended "Red Peter", and requested the audience if they had any questions to anyone present out there. On top of it, the actors were seen heeding in to the request of the audience when they took the papers provided by the students for the autographs.
The teachers accompanying the students were seen confident that their students not only had a great time, but also learned about literature that changed their perspective towards life, to some extent. The Vice Principal, who was also in the audience, shared a belief that participation in such programs empowers the students with knowledge beyond books, and that KEHS takes pride in the active participation of its students in programs that has been helping them in their real life beyond the syllabus, for the last 40 glorious years.
