When i was Decius Brutus for a day ?

A couple of days back, I completed one of the biggest tasks of my life that sometimes had my heart in my mouth. Being part of the 42-day proficiency training course at PNG School along with over 200 other primary teachers from East and North District, it was more than fun on the personal ground; if I had not been part of this training, I am sure I would have been missing something. 

Last Thursday, we had an English play on the death of Julius Caesar, presented in front of the HRDD Secretary and other distinguished guests. We were told in advance that the Nayuma Television crew would capture the presentation, and this part would be shown at the Chintan Bhawan, where Pawan Chamling, the Chief Minister, would be the Chief Guest of the occasion. The drama, for me, was my first attempt at English lingo, and that was enough to give me a jerk. 

My comfort level on being selected to play the role of Decius Brutus, one of the conspirators, was enough to frighten my small heart from day one, but that was not what I would love to talk about. Interestingly, in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Decimus Brutus is mistakenly called "Decius," but as I was told that I was Decius, it was okay. The only thing I wanted to do was to challenge myself and conquer my long dragged crowd phobia. I have always kept myself wrapped within myself, and above all, I want to set free myself and enjoy the other side of life. I can say this training period did help ease my confidentiality level a bit.

Coming back to the play….I played Decius Brutus (not to be confused with other Brutus, the trusted friend of Caesar), one of the key conspirators who murdered the great Caesar. I believe I first read about Julius Caesar when I was in Class V or VI. Still, Decimus Brutus was a new name to me until the day of my selection. On the same day, I also saw one of my good friends, Sunil Dangal, being selected to play the character of Brutus. I never knew how Decimus Brutus behaved or his body language; all I knew was that I was to read those lines by heart and enact “him."

Decius Brutus’s role is important because he lures Caesar to attend the day’s Senate despite Caesar’s wife Calphurnia’s dream foretelling his doom. I knew what I was supposed to deliver, and I was prepared for it. During the rehearsals, I was the weakest of all; I would stammer around those 7-8 lines I had to speak before Caesar. I had grown a fear within myself that I would spoil the play. To make the lines more suitable for me, I tried to add a few of my own words just to feel the character. How would I say if I were a real Decimus Brutus in that situation?

On the stage, the PNGSS School’s auditorium was waiting for us. I was on the stage most of the time, but I had two separate scenes regarding dialogue delivery. In the first, I am supposed to agree with the rest of my conspirator friends to assassin Caesar, while in the next stage presence, I convince Caesar to be at the Senate to attend the meeting despite Caesar's wife’s dream of her husband being murdered.

Below is the line from Shakespeare’s original play with the title Julius Caesar that my character speaks. but in my case, I had well-versed modern-day English words that fitted my best, but as expected, I missed a few of the words, the slightest of stammer, despite that it was a fair job done by me looking at my crowd-phobic history.

"This dream is all amiss interpreted;

It was a vision fair and fortunate:

Your statue spouting blood in many pipes,

In which so many smiling Romans bathed,

Signifies that from you, great Rome shall suck

Reviving blood, and that great man shall press

For tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance.

This is signified by Calpurnia’s dream."

In the final scene, when everybody was asking Caesar to look at their petition, I had some wardrobe malfunction, such as not being able to take out my petition paper from my pants pocket, which was wrapped with the white shawl from the front. While the rest of the fellow conspirators were preparing to stab Caesar and approaching him with their petitions, I was busy searching for the petition paper that I had kept inside my pocket, and I was not able to pick it up in time; instead in a hurry I was the first to pull out my dagger from my pocket and acted as if I was coming near Caesar to stab him from behind. Nobody noticed me searching my petition paper inside my costume, but it was hilarious and terrifying.

After the play was over, I was highly relieved. The play received applause from everyone. Caesar, performed by Pawan Tamang; Brutus, played by Sunil Dangal; and Mark Antony, played by Pema Sherpa, were well appreciated. I am sure Decius Brutus shall always find a place in my heart, and I will surely share his character for the rest of my life. But at the same time, I am also worried about how I look on a bigger screen on Sunday.