The musical play called “‘sPlat” is the brainchild of Australian husband and wife duo Phil and Jodi Tweed. ‘sPlat is used extensively in Australia as an educational resource aimed at school children aged between six and 12 years. It was designed to communicate the importance of good values in everyday life.
“This is my seventh trip to Nepal, and I have a very good relationship with Shree Mangal Dvip School and the children there,” shared Jodi Tweed, Director of The Style Group, who added, “I’m really glad to bring the musical group to perform here.”
‘sPlat’s story line revolves around the adventures of a platypus named Plat, an animal native to Australia. The play revolves around the journey of Plat. His journey sees him put nine important values like care, compassion, freedom and honesty into action. The songs throughout the musical capture these values and reinforce these messages.
“The children from Australia and SMD will be performing together on one stage, and this will give them the opportunity to interact and share their culture and experiences,” she said.
She further said that music can bring out the creativity in a person and she really wanted the children at SMD to develop such creative skills. She also wanted to promote inter-cultural relationships among the children.
SMD is a school for underprivileged children from remote villages in the north of Nepal. “The children at the school and we all are really grateful and ecstatic to collaborate with the musical group from Australia,” shared Pema Norbu, a teacher at SMD.
The crew is made up of volunteers from Australia and Nepal. The characters of the play have been evenly distributed among the children at SMD School and the participants from Australia.
“Jodi gave us the script last year and the children have been practicing by themselves,” Pema explained. After the Australian team arrived, they got to practice together.
Miriam Fisher, who is helping with production and promotion, shared, “The event is also being organized to encourage diversity among people and promote tolerance of differences.”
Australian Ambassador to Nepal, Her Excellency Susan Grace, is officially launching the event at SMD School on January 14 at 6 pm.
Subsequent performances will be held at SMD School from 6 pm on January 15 and at 1 pm on January 16. Each performance will run for approximately 90 minutes. Admission is free.
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