Theatre in signs

Although Krishna Shah Yatri had been in theatre for some time, it was only in 2001 that he came to fame with “Manchhe Manchheharu.” Bagging the Best Director award at the National Theatre Festival that year was a big achievement.



It was, however, the declaration of “Manchhe Manchheharu” as the first Nepali sign-language drama by the Kathmandu Deaf Association (KDA) marked it even as a greater accomplishment.[break]



“Out of the 56 entries from all over the country, Manchhe Manchheharu won the competition,” shares a proud Yatri, who wrote the half-hour-long play in 1996.



Yatri, originally from Udaipur, came to Kathmandu in 1993 for higher education. He first encountered deaf people at a theatre performance in 1995.



“At that time I didn’t know sign language, but I had the energy to do something new and to experiment,” recalls Yatri with fervor. He immediately enrolled into a sign-language class.



“After talking to KDA and the Naxal Deaf School, I was able to gather some interested people,” he shares, and adds, “With the then existing 4,000 Nepali sign words, I came up with the script of Manchhe Manchheharu.” The four-month-long rehearsal ended in a well-received show at the Russian Culture Center in 1996 under the name of Jyotipunja Sign Theatre (JST).







“We told ourselves, why stop here?” puts in Yatri, the president of JST. Accordingly, when Manchhe Manchheharu was entered for the National Theatre Festival in 2001, many questions were raised on how ‘signing’ could be a language.



“Signing isn’t only a means of communication for the deaf but it’s a universal language; and dialogue alone doesn’t make a drama,” states Yatri. He further opines from his years of experience, “In fact, there are many things hearing artists can learn from deaf artists because the deaf both see and hear through their eyes.”



JST has performed over 20 sign-language plays till date, and has some 35 people as its members, both hearing and non-hearing.



“Our plays have guest artists from different fields from time to time,” informs Yatri, who published a collection of eight sign dramas in 2007.



“JST created a platform for several deaf people from Bir Bahadur Bogati to Rashmi Amatya, who are now both known as a theater actor and fine art painter, respectively,” says Yatri and goes on, “There’s been a change in the attitude of people and they are seen as equally capable individuals today.”



Sign theatre, while it is blossoming, is not free of challenges, however.



“We always have to make sure that light is falling on the actors because one has to read their signs to understand the play. Off-stage narration isn’t a possibility, either,” Yatri explains. The other challenge is a rather sad one. “We only have 6,000 Nepali sign words, and therefore, our scripts are limited,” he laments.

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