BOP × Nepal

An international collaboration working as co-producers and agents for change, leading a collective of international developing artists drawn from Scotland and Nepal

BOP has established an ongoing relationship with partners in Nepal, particularly Diverse Patterns (DP) and its founder and director Sagar Prasai. Working together, BOP and DP have exciting plans to build on work to date towards access to and increased involvement in the arts in Nepal for disabled people. BOP and DP first worked together on a British Council Project in 2019 — see below — and then in 2022, Sagar Prasai invited BOP’s Producer Michelle Rolfe to collaborate on an event examining how to make the arts more accessible as part of the second Nepal International Theatre Festival. Between 2024 and 2026, we worked with 10 international developing artists on the project UNWRAP, which saw the artists collaborate on a project that resulted in the production New Normal.

New Normal 2025 Blog from NITFest 2025 Background to UNWRAP 24/25 When did BOP first work in Nepal? 2019 NITFest 2022 and Toolkit

New Normal 2025

We are delighted to announce New Normal, an original play created through an exciting international collaboration between disabled artists in Nepal and Scotland.

New Normal joins friends as they make sense of the past, present and future after the arrival of some people from the old world, a place called Earth. Why are they here? And how are they going to adjust? Aaravi, Minal and Smriti all have different opinions about this and once they meet Diya they discover very quickly that their world is about to change more than they could imagine.

New Normal was performed on 25th and 27th March 2025 at Mandala Theatre, Kathmandu as part of NITFest 2025 and International Theatre Day.

The Kathmandu Post printed an article about the work on 4th April 25. You can read it here: ‘New Normal’ brings creative accessibility to theatre

Link to Digital E-Programme

Below are the access provisions for New Normal.

पात्र र सेट विवरण / Set and Character Descriptions:

Transcript of Set and Character Description – English

पात्र र सेट विवरण Transcription of Set and Character Descriptions – Nepali

नेपाली सांकेतिक भाषाको ट्रेलर / Nepali Sign Language Trailer:

सादा अंग्रेजी र संवेदी गाइड / Plain Text Synopsis and Sensory Guides:

Plain Text Synopsis and Sensory Guide – English

सादा अंग्रेजी र संवेदी गाइड Plain Text Synopsis and Sensory Guide – Nepali

Blog from NITFest 2025

Blog posts from the team as they prepare for our production of New Normal in Kathmandu.

Four women pose for a photo in front of a large, vividly colored backdrop depicting Middle Eastern culture. On the left, the woman nearest to the camera wears large, wire-rimmed glasses and a dark jacket. Next to her, another woman sits wearing a pale green jacket over a patterned top, her curly hair framing her face. Behind them, a woman in a floral jacket and black top smiles, a pink crossbody bag visible on her hip. To her right, a woman with red hair, glasses, and a dark shirt with a delicate gold pendant necklace also smiles. The backdrop features traditional-style buildings adorned with decorative lights and crescent moons. On the wall is an image of a man in a white thobe and headdress is prominently displayed, along with another of a woman wearing a blue hijab. The lighting is a mix of warm hues from the illuminated buildings and cooler tones from the overhead lights, which casts shadows on the wall. All four women wear glasses and smile at the camera, and their clothing choices suggest a casual outing. The faces are well-lit, and the background is sharp and colorful, evoking a sense of warmth and cultural richness.

BOP at Nitfest – Day 1

BOP travel to Kathmandu, Nepal to begin the rehearsals to Nitfest 2025

A medium shot shows a group of adults gathered in an outdoor paved space for a rehearsal. Toward the back of the image, five adults stand and sit on chairs. From left to right, a woman in a red sweater, a woman in a red patterned top, a woman in a blue patterned top, a woman in a navy sweatshirt with white dots, and a woman in a light pink top and pale blue shawl. These seated women appear to be watching a performance. One of the seated women rests her hands on her throat, and the woman in the pink and blue stands behind the others with her eyes closed. A short dark chair also sits between the seated woman in the sweatshirt. In the bottom left, a woman with dark hair who is turned away from the camera sits on a blue outdoor chair. She wears a dark teal top and appears to be recording notes on a pad of paper she is holding. At the bottom right, a man with dark curly hair sits on a green chair with a guitar in his hand, and a light blue denim vest over his black shirt. He faces the group. The scene is set in a green space with a backdrop of trees and bushes. The ground is paved with grey stone tiles. The group sits on a raised platform, three steps high, with more grey stone.

BOP at Nitfest – Halfway through rehearsals

We’ve settled into rehearsals for New Normal here in Nepal. As the culmination of this part of the UNWRAP project, this play will be […]

The photograph depicts a late-day scene featuring a building adjacent to a paved parking area, marked by the presence of two cars and the architectural details of the building itself. The building is characterized by its red roofing, and what appears to be a partially open-air storefront marked by tables and activity within. The front is framed by a series of vertical supports and decorated with numerous colorful prayer flags that stretch across the frontage, adding a festive cultural element to the exterior. Potted plants line the walkway leading to the entrance, softening the hard lines of the structure with greenery. To the left of the main building, a taller, more modern building is visible, reflecting the sunset light with its light-colored facade. On its roof, three circular tanks are situated, presumably water tanks, while prayer flags are attached from the building. The sky, taking up a significant portion of the image, is awash with the warm hues of the setting sun, creating a backdrop of sunset pastels and soft clouds. The pavement in the foreground is a mix of grey concrete with subtle variations in color, likely indicating different paving sections. On the left side of the image, a silver car is parked, with its registration visible but blurred, while on the right, a compact grey hatchback can also be seen. A sign stands near the entrance of the building, positioned near a person in a white t-shirt.

BOP at Nitfest – End of rehearsals

The whole team has accomplished a lot in the second half of this week. The two translators, Jaldeep and Sandip, have done an amazing […]

A wide-shot, medium-high angle, shows a group of people of various ethnicities and heights sitting and standing on a stage. All the people in the group are wearing matching knit caps in dark blue with white trim, and most of them are giving either the peace sign with their fingers up, the "rock on" sign, or smiling. Some are seated on small wooden stools, and a fair-skinned woman who is heavy set is seated in a wheelchair off to the right, wearing a dark top, a long blue skirt, and black sandals. Further right from her are two brown-skinned men who are standing. A woman is sitting in a chair, raising one arm as she smiles and flashes a peace sign. She has a box of Mary Hill's candy in her lap. The stage is gray, and behind the group is a screen and black curtains with studio lighting overhead. In the foreground are two red, square floor cushions and a chair that faces away from the camera.

BOP at Nitfest – Performances and Farewell

Our final week in Nepal was very busy as we prepared for the performances of New Normal. The Nepal International Theatre Festival had such […]

UNWRAP 2024

UNWRAP was an international collaboration that was awarded an Unlimited International Open Award 2024 — you can find the full list of UK and International recipients here. For UNWRAP Michelle and Sagar worked as co-producers and agents for change, leading a collective of ten international developing artists drawn from Scotland and Nepal. These artists collaborated remotely in online workshops that explored artistic practice, storytelling and creative access. These workshops generated ideas and content that formed the basis for ‘New Normal’, a direct legacy of BOP’s initial workshops in 2019 and we are delighted by how this deeper collaboration centred lived experience from across Scotland and Nepal, the representation of disabled people and creatively embedded access.

Legacy Website for UNWRAP

For the new production, BOP Theatre worked with UK emerging disabled director Emily Ingram as an Associate Artist. As leading proponents of creative access and disability equality, BOP worked closely with all Nepal partners to develop a work that centres access and representation.

Remote workshops were facilitated by the BOP team, including Emily Ingram, who has direct experience of BOP’s artistic development work, and BOP Development Officer Morna McGeogh. UNWRAP represented a key professional development opportunity for Morna and Emily, representing the first time they worked internationally.

In the video below, Morna and Emily discuss the opportunities the project provides:

To turn captions on click on the wheel for settings and click on subtitles/cc.

UNWRAP was an opportunity for creative development across continents and the amplification of disabled artists’ voices and stories. Alongside the artistic outputs, the project impacted access and disability equality in the arts in Nepal, where the inclusion of disabled people and accessible practices in the making and presentation of theatre is in its infancy.

“In Nepal, a country grappling with complex disability issues, this initiative is particularly impactful. Disabled individuals in Nepal face challenges in accessing education, employment, and social activities, often hindered by infrastructural barriers and societal stigma. UNWRAP provides a platform for these artists to share their stories, enhancing visibility and challenging existing stereotypes. This not only shifts public perception but also inspires other theatre groups to make their work more accessible, increasing arts access for people with disabilities.” – Sagar Prasai

When did BOP first work in Nepal? 2019

In 2019, BOP was invited to Nepal by the British Council based in Kathmandu. The reason for the invitation was to lead a series of workshops, sharing the skills and knowledge that BOP has developed at how to make creative work in a way that is accessible to and inclusive of disabled people. The dates of this workshop coincided with the Nepal International Theatre Festival, and our Executive Producer, Mairi Taylor, was invited to speak as part of a panel discussing the different barriers disabled people face in engaging with performance – and how BOP works to remove these barriers.

Based in the British Council offices in Kathmandu, Mairi Taylor (Executive Producer), Michelle Rolfe (Producer) and Callum Madge (Engagement Manager) from BOP worked across 5 days with 29 Nepalese people, from Kathmandu and the surrounding area. The workshops focused on disability equality, BOP’s use of creative access and collaborative working while developing ideas for a British Council grant which was due to open for applications at the end of the workshops.

The five half-day workshops consisted of a mixture of: sharing knowledge about good inclusive practice from BOP’s Disability Equality Training; talking through examples of BOP’s work as case studies; practical activities that grouped together artists and disabled people so they could better understand the others perspective; discussions around the practicalities of being a disabled person in Nepal; sessions that provided guidance on best to apply for the British Council grants – in consultation with British Council Nepal staff. It is important to note that BOP made clear from the outset that its knowledge and skills come from a UK perspective and we didn’t pretend to understand the nuances of the Nepalese experience – to this end we worked closely with Sagar Prasai from the National Rehabilitation Society for the Disabled (NRSD) and Diverse Patterns based in Kathmandu, himself a disabled man.

A photo of a blue door that reads 'Training Room 1'. Underneath this there is a British Council sign that reads 'Exploring approaches to access and inclusivity' .

A room filled with people, some are sitting and some are standing. They are all facing a large red board with various clusters of sticky notes on it. In front of the board, there are two people in wheelchairs, a man and a woman. The woman is wearing an orange top and appears to be talking.

A photo taken from behind two people standing at the front of a workshop. One is a man wearing a maroon hat and the other is a blonde woman wearing a red top. There are around forty to fifty people sitting in front of them listening.

Mairi and Michelle posing with participants from the workshop, doing the Nepalese sign for 'wmoan' on International Women's Day

A large group of people gathered for a workshop. A small row of five people present at the front with the other participants sat watching them.

Three people, a man and two women pose in front of a small white temple with a golden spire and strings of coloured flags descending from it

Two women and a man pose in front of what looks like the entrance to a stone temple. There is a large archway behind them. They all smile at the camera

Three people pose by a heart sculpture that reads: 'I love Chandragiri'. A man and a woman are standing in it, smiling and leaning on the sides, and a woman in a wheelchair with long dark hair sits in front of it.

Five people, two women and three men pose with their arms around each other, in a lush green garden for a photo.

A large group of around thirty people are sat in a circle, talking to each other. One man stands.

A large room of around forty people gather in seated clusters and appear to be talking amoungst themselves

Around 40% of the participants were disabled and very few of them spoke English so we worked through an English-Nepali translator – the Deaf Nepalese . BOP worked responsively with the group, shifting activity in response to the group’s size and learning needs. To do this we drew on our the knowledge and on the established processes of the company – including artistic practises and knowledge around disability equality and artist development. Read the full evaluation report at the link below.

BOP Workshops with British Council Nepal: Evaluation

You can read about the workshops on the British Council Nepal website here

NITFest 2022 and Toolkit

In 2022 Sagar involved BOP to collaborate on a workshop for the second NITFEST in Nepal. Creating an event examining how to make the arts more accessible as part of the second Nepal International Theatre Festival. This workshop was held hybridly with Michelle in Scotland and Sagar in Nepal on the 28th of November.

Following the successful collaboration between Sagar and BOP for the second NITFEST workshop, Sagar continued his efforts in making the arts more accessible. He partnered with the British Council, with support from BOP Resources, to create a starter toolkit which we will use and build on for UNWRAP on how to make arts events and festivals accessible to disabled people. This toolkit focuses on access to culture rather than cultural production. You can find more information and access the toolkit by visiting this link: British Council Disability Accessibility Guide.

A group of 16 people are posing for a photo. The photo has been taken at a training session BOP was running in Rwanda for the British Council. Most of the people are black but there are four white people. One lady is using crutches and Robert from BOP is in his wheelchair, in the centre of the picture (how does he always manage that). Everyone is smiling and some people have their hands raised waving at the camera.

International

Working in Holland, Brazil, Rwanda, Mexico, Peru, Bangladesh and other countries to deliver training, workshops and presentations of and on our work and methods