The whole team has accomplished a lot in the second half of this week. The two translators, Jaldeep and Sandip, have done an amazing job translating the script into Nepali. We focused on one scene each day, meanwhile Jaldeep and Sandip took turns translating the scene for the next day. The actors have worked hard to pick up the new translations each day and have been doing an amazing job. Throughout the week more elements have been added to the performance. We now have recorded all of the voiceovers. Our amazing musician, Sagar, has composed some beautiful original music and the cast had a lot of fun learning the lyrics at the tail end of the week. The cast were also all measured for their costumes and everyone is excited to see how they turn out. The blocking has all come together really smoothly and there are some beautiful visuals throughout the play. By the end of the week we were doing full runs of the play, with music, audio, and props, which was a bit of a challenge to end the week, but it’s nice to see the full production coming together. 

On Friday 21st of March was World Down Syndrome Day. The space we are rehearsing, which supports people with Down Syndrome, held a huge celebration. Mairi was invited to be part of a panel to discuss disability in theatre, specifically with regards to people with Down syndrome. It was a really lovely celebration and it was nice to see all of the festivities, even though we were rehearsing all day! So from Nepal, a very happy World Down Syndrome day from BOP! 

I spoke to a few members of the cast at the end of the week and they said they are excited for the performances but are definitely feel the pressure of getting all of the lines in their head. They are all doing a lot of line-running throughout the day during any down time to ensure they’ll be ready for the first performance on Tuesday (!!!). It’s been amazing to see how high spirits have been despite everyone feeling under pressure to be ready for the shows. Morna, one of our directors, has specifically said how much she’s enjoyed collaborating with Gunjan, our other director and would be eager to co-direct more projects in the future due to her experience on this production. The whole team has continued to be incredibly supportive to each other, which has definitely made the process a lot more enjoyable. We’ll soon be moving out of the beautiful rehearsal space to Mandala Theatre, where the show will be performed!