The lights are dim, the door half open and beyond it the audience glimpses Nora sitting alone under a single beam of light. In Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, Nora slams that door as she flees an oppressive household but in his adaptation, Putali ko Ghar, director Sunil Pokhrel imagined a Nepali exit for the main character that still captures the essence of Ibsen.

"The slamming of the door echoed throughout Europe to signify women's emancipation, but by leaving it door ajar we have made space for dialogue as we think that better reflects the reality of Nepal," says Pokhrel, founder of the Gurukul theatre school.

Putali ko Ghar has already been performed 113 times at Gurukul and is being staged this year to pay tribute to Ibsen on the 100th anniversary of his death. The concept for the Nepali adaptation emerged during Pokhrel's 2002 visit to Denmark when he and a director friend decided to stage European and South Asian versions of the play. "We wanted to focus on what exactly the differences in society were and what the similarities were, though the end interpretation was similar," says the director.

Pokhrel was flattered when many people thought the play was an original Nepali work when it was first staged here. All the details had changed, from the costumes to the festivals, with Tihar taking the place of Christmas. The characters were reduced to five and all their names changed, except for Nora's. Says lead actress Nisha Sharma, "The play had been done so many times that we had to ask ourselves what could be done differently and then go from there. we worked on the last line for over a month before we settled for the current translation but we are still not satisfied".

Theatre-goers loved it. While Putali ko Ghar inspired women it also served as an eye opener for men. "We could see the male audience getting restless though it would be politically incorrect for them to come out and say it, but the women were empowered just watching it," recalls Pokhrel.

Excerpts from Putali ko Ghar will be performed at a ceremony to mark Ibsen's 100th death anniversary on 18 March at the Norwegian Embassy. Gurukul is also organising an international Ibsen festival from 1-9 May where they will perform Master Builder.

Aarti Basnyat