In November I was invited to Trestle Arts Base in St. Albans to discuss plans to develop a performance based on ideas generated during the international residency.  This was to be a show based on the Shakuntala myth but re-imagined for a contemporary western audience.  I was asked to play the role of King Dushyanta in the performance which offered me the opportunity to work in the context of another company’s approach to developing some of the practical performance methods which have been so germane to Myriad’s work, as well as discover new ones.

I began rehearsal with Trestle Theatre Company at the end of January and for five weeks worked closely with director Emily Grey, the writer Nina Patel and the other members of the company to devise the production which was entitled Little India.  The working methodology complemented my work with Myriad perfectly as here we were creating new material around an existing narrative and Myriad specialises in exploring new working methods to bring texts to life in a modern context.  Both approaches draw on the wealth of performance traditions from the sub-continent and South India in particular and I was therefore able to draw directly on my experience and training in Kerala (see full report here).

During the rehearsal period the company was joined by Anmol Mothi, a Kalaripayattu (Kalari) master from Bangalore, who is a member of the Little Jasmine ensemble.  For two weeks we received daily instruction and training in Kalari techniques which would later be used in the performance itself.  In addition, we worked with Chitraleka Bolar who is one of the leading exponents of Bharatanatyam dance in the UK and is the Artistic Director of Chitraleka Dance Company.  Chitraleka provided detailed tuition in the use of mudras, symbolic hand gestures and body movement in performance.

The text developed in conjunction with the devising process and Nina Patel drew from improvised material generated in rehearsal together with classical material from Kalidasa’s Sanskrit version of the story of Shakuntala and her own contemporary additions.  By the end of the devising process we had produced a show that incorporated the various performance techniques derived from both the residency and the specialized input during rehearsal.  The result was a retelling of the classical myth using dynamic visual techniques and physical action.