KATHMANDU: Atirikta Yatra (Extra Journey) is a simple play that conveys a message that people who are unable to hear observe and understand the world through their eyes. For them expressions take the place of words.

Written and directed by veteran theatre activist Kirshna Shah Yatri the play was staged at the Rastriya Naach Ghar, Jamal on April 3. Eighteen hearing impaired artistes from Nepal and Britain comprised the whole cast of Atirikta Yatra.

As the play opens, some people start to mime different expressions. A beam of light falls on a lady standing at the centre of the stage. The light fades and returns to focus on Riya (Gunjana Khadka), the protagonist of the play who is a hearing-impaired girl. The play unravels the journey of Riya from her childhood to adulthood, how she conquers her dreams despite being brought in rural village. Being differently-abled does not keep her from achieving her dreams. Her uncle takes her to city where she continues her studies. Her passion for education gets her scholarship to study in UK, where she finds an able man, Mike and gets married to him. After accomplishing her

studies in Fine Arts she returns to Nepal with her husband to

do something for differently-abled people like hers and to work in

the field Fine Arts.

“Making the play was difficult in the beginning but eventually we made it. The artistes of this play were very curious to learn and this made the whole journey worthwhile,” shared Yatri. “Nepali

and British sign language are different but some of it does match

so I have mixed both of it in the play,” added Yatri.

The play was organised by British Council, Nepal Federation for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (NFDH) and Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) in association with the Deaf Global Xchange Volunteers from UK and Nepal. “This exchange aims to strengthen the trust and understanding between the people of Nepal and UK,” expressed Smriti Dewan, the Programme Manager of British Council Nepal.