June 26, 2026 | Tarapatti, Mithila Bihari Nagarpalika, Dhanusha, Nepal
The morning brought heavy rain to Tarapatti. For a while, it seemed unlikely that the performance would happen at all. But the teachers at Shree Parwati Anarwati Tetriwati Madhyamik Vidyalaya were determined to make it happen. They called the children to school, found a way to use the available spaces, and turned an ordinary classroom passage and a patch of open ground into a theatrical space.
Around 100 students between the ages of 6 and 15 gathered for माछाको रंगीन सपना (Fish’s Rainbow Dream). The show became a particularly memorable experience because of how much the teachers invested themselves in it. Even on a rainy day, they made sure the children had a chance to experience something new.
From a Classroom to a Storyworld
The school’s existing spaces became part of the stage design. One classroom was used as the backstage, with its doorway transformed by a curtain. The passage outside became one part of the performance area, while the open ground beside it became another. Children watched from benches and waterproof sheets spread across the ground.
It wasn’t the kind of stage we usually imagine when we think of theatre. But that is also what made the experience interesting. The story did not need a conventional auditorium to work. The performers simply adjusted their movements, entrances and interactions to the space available. And the children adapted with them.
“Our students as well as all the teachers were very interested in your performance and theatre with great joy and pleasure. We thank you from the core of our hearts. Our students demand your performance time and again in our school.” — Birendra Kumar Mandal, Principal
A Fish Looking for Colours
माछाको रंगीन सपना follows a black-and-white fish who dreams of becoming colourful. As she travels through the story, she meets different characters and encounters a series of playful challenges while searching for colours. Through songs, sensory props, movement and interaction, the children become part of her journey rather than simply watching it unfold.
The story invites children to think about colour, friendship, imagination and the people who help us along the way. At each performance, the audience becomes an important part of how the story moves forward.
When the Teacher Became the Fairy
One of the children’s favourite moments was seeing one of their own teachers become the fairy in the story.
She was naturally quite shy, which made her transformation even more delightful for the children. Seeing a familiar teacher suddenly appear as a character on stage brought a different kind of excitement into the room. She was no longer simply the teacher managing the class; for those few minutes, she was part of the story they were exploring together.
The Fish Continued After the Show
The performance was followed by a simple activity. The children received blank outline drawings of a fish and were invited to colour them in their own way.
The results were particularly memorable. The children created colourful designs influenced by their own visual imagination, including several beautiful patterns inspired by Maithili artistic styles. Some of the designs were among the most distinctive we have received during our journey with माछाको रंगीन सपना.
For children who had just experienced a theatrical version of the story, the fish became something they could take back with them and reinterpret in their own way.
Theatre That Can Travel
This performance reminded us of something important about the way we make theatre at Joy House: the stage has to be flexible if the theatre is going to travel.
A classroom passage can become a stage. A doorway can become a backstage entrance. Benches can become audience seating. A piece of cloth can create the boundary between the storyworld and the audience.
The performance doesn’t have to wait for the perfect space. Sometimes, it simply needs people who are willing to make the space work.
Concluding Remarks
This performance was a reminder that the most important part of a theatre space is not what it looks like, but what happens inside it. In Tarapatti, teachers made room for the performance despite the rain, and the children filled that space with curiosity, laughter and imagination.
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