SouthSouth

Ever since time beganMan watched the journey of the sun.He reflected on the directionsThat lit his inner landscape.

Metastory

The Triumph of Art

Where Three Oceans Meet

Interval

The Golden Mead

Child’s Play

Kolam

South

South

PerformersVayu NaiduStorytelling

Orphy RobinsonMusic and Effects

Lia PrentakiContemporary Dance

Magdalen GorringeBharatanatyam Dance

Shane Shambhu Bharatanatyam Dance

Paul Bull Technical Manager: Lighting and Sound

Emma Flanagan Trainee Assistant Stage Manager

Dan Thompson Trainee Technical Assistant

Nigel Green Company Manager and Administrator

Chenine Bathena, Helen Cook, Alex Donald of Guy Chapman AssociatesTour, Marketing, Press and PR

Amie Spooner Marketing and PR for Vayu Naidu Company

Howard Otley, Anna SeabrookApprentices

Sound recorded by Julian Whitfield at Delta Studio, CharthamCarnatic music commissioned for South composed and performed by ReggiGeorge with Bhavanishankar and orchestra at Shruti Studios, Chennai andremixed at Delta with Shane Shambu (vocals and nattuvangam) Children's voices – Caitlin and Nathaniel ShaughnessyTamil nursery rhyme – Magdalen GorringeSound Equipment – Paul Bull

KW PropsSet Building

Debbie Thomas, Linzi Potter and Abby HammondCostume Making

David Griffiths Masks

Sadie Mallet Props

Simon Cullen Transport

Moira BlackwellProduction Photography

Running time:1 hour 45 minutes including one interval of 15 minutes.

Creative TeamChris Banfield Devising and Direction

Marsha RoddySet and Costume Design

Dee Ashworth Lighting Design

Adam MeggidoAssistant Director

South CDs on saleat front of house.

Tales occur in many contexts but in Indiaan oral tale essentially begins in thekitchen. It is told by an older woman inthe family while feeding the sleepy orobstreperous child in the evening. Theoldest boy present is not more than eightor nine. And the other occupants of thekitchen are all female members of thefamily, of all age groups. Inevitably thetale becomes a network of messagesbetween those present. Thoughaddressed to the child, the talesresonate within a “world of women”,sensitizing the young males while talkingof the values, sufferings, aspirations andfantasies of women. Classical tales glorifydevoted daughters, chaste wives, long-suffering mothers. Oral tales often invertthese role models: wives cheat, take onlovers. Adulteresses triumph. Womenhave energy, foresight, wisdom andcunning. Men are wimps only toosusceptible to the wiles of women. AsA.K.Ramanujan, who worked on oraltales at the University of Chicago, has

pointed out, a specific philosophyinforms the world of tales. There aresome things you cannot keep to yourself:food, a daughter, a tale. They are meantto be passed on. Thus story-telling is notjust a form of entertainment. It is a socialresponsibility. If someone who knows astory fails to pass it on, she (more oftenthan not it is a woman) will be punished.Her stomach will bloat. She will getscabs on her skin. Or the tale willrevenge itself on her in other ways. Whenthe tale is narrated, the teller will regainher health. Thus story-telling is essentialfor the health of the individual narrator; itis the basis of the health of the societyas a whole.

Girish KarnadPatron Director, The Nehru Centre

Tales

There were three encounters, for me,that brought about South. One, aquestion frequently asked and can betaken in any which way: Where are youfrom? Another, the death of a sibling,and the third, relocating to the SouthEast. The question of origins made meshape a story that was not so muchabout the past, but of the sense ofleaving something behind. A sibling’sdeath meant returning to childhood, withthe intention of burying it. But memoryforced its way by re-membering adismembered past and brought out arich harvest in the form of story that washealing. Relocation was returning to aplace in the sun at a different latitude.

Each encounter suggested a measure ofspace and a direction by which the past,present and the future of one’s emotionalgeography were defined. The south pointwas a time of recognising life’s collisionswhile preparing for a new crossing; awhite light that is as naked as thesouthern sun.

Vayu NaiduArtistic Director

Beginnings

There are many exciting performancetraditions from different parts of the worldwhere storytelling, dance and music arecombined. Our intercultural experiment inSouth has been to see how newtheatrical forms can emerge fromweaving oral narrative together withmelody, percussion, sound effects anddifferent kinds of movement drawn fromthe contrasting styles of south Indianclassical Bharatanatyam andcontemporary dance. But we have asimpler aim, too, and that is to tell you agood story. The stories in South comefrom all directions. Our journey has takenus to the mythological world of AncientGreece, to the sacred place where threeoceans meet in the shimmering heat ofsouth India, to the legends of the Norsegods and giants in the icy north... andbeyond. All the artists involved in theproject have shown a willingness toextend their practice across unexploredterritory and innovate through integrationand collaboration. I am grateful to them

all for their openness, patience andcommitment during the period ofresearch, creation and development. Iwould particularly like to pay tribute toDee Ashworth who has offeredinvaluable support from the GulbenkianTheatre in Canterbury, and also theDepartment of Drama at UKC forgenerously making rehearsal spaceavailable to the company duringpreparation of the piece. This is theinaugural production of Vayu NaiduCompany. South is therefore a point ofdeparture as well as a point of arrival. Wehope you enjoy South and that you willcome back and see more storytellingtheatre from the company in the future.

Chris BanfieldDirector

South

After nourishment, shelter andcompanionship, stories are thething we need most in the world.– Philip Pullman

VAYU NAIDUStorytelling

Vayu discovered Storytelling along theSouth Eastern coast of India and Chennaiwhere she comes from. She came toEngland in 1988. Her doctorate from theUniversity of Leeds was on IndianPerformance Oral traditions and theirinterpretations in contemporary westerntheatre. Her recent work includes: ThereComes a Karma directed by VanessaWhitburn, BBC Radio 4 Drama short-listedfor the Richard Imison Award for best newwriting for Radio (1999); Playboy of theAsian World directed by Nona Shepphardand commissioned and produced byLeicester Haymarket Theatre (1999); NineNights directed by Chris Banfield andcommissioned and produced by LeicesterHaymarket Theatre (1999); When directed

by Vanessa Whitburn for BBC Radio 4Drama (2002); Future Perfect, a storytellingperformance collaboration withdirector/composer Judith Weir, whichtoured nationally (2000) as part of theContemporary Music Network and did anAll-India British Council Tour (2002) incollaboration with BCMG (BirminghamContemporary Music Group); WhenShakespeare Met Kali directed by NonaShepphard as part of the Kali TheatreCompany's Shorts at Soho Theatre(2003). Her new commission by BBCRadio 4, Guess Who’s Coming toChristmas?, will be broadcast in 2003.Vayu's books for children are published byWayland Publishers, Collins UK and TulikaBooks in Chennai, India. She is on theadvisory committee of BRIT (BlackRegional Initiative of Theatre) at ArtsCouncil England, and was Associate Artistof Contact Youth Theatre, Manchester(2001-2002). From 1998-2002 Vayu wasArtistic Associate of Leicester HaymarketTheatre and Artistic Producer of NATAK,the Haymarket's Asian Theatre initiative,producing The Square Circle by TimMurari and Bali – the Sacrifice, by GirishKarnad, among others. She performedand wrote Joining Forces with OrphyRobinson for the NITRO festival nationaltour in November 2002. This wasbroadcast on The Verb (Radio 3) as part ofnew commissions. Vayu is currently Artsand Humanities Research Board (AHRB)Postdoctoral Fellow in Creative andPerforming Arts at the University of Kent atCanterbury’s Drama Department, Schoolof Drama, Film and Visual Arts.

Performers

MAGDALEN GORRINGEBharatanatyam Dance

Magdalen started training inBharatanatyam as a child in India andhas continued her training in Londonunder Prakash Yadagudde and MavinKhoo. Recent works include anapprenticeship with Shobana JeyasinghDance Company, working on images inVarnam with Mavin Khoo, andperformances with Opera Holland Park.Future projects include Escapade, a sitespecific work at the South Bank, andperformance work led by Leela Samson.Magdalen has an M.Phil in Sanskrit andclassical Indian religions from OxfordUniversity.

SHANE SHAMBHU Bharatanatyam Dance

Shane initially trained in Bharatanatyamwith Pushkala Gopal and Unnikrishnan inLondon. He was a member of MudralayaYouth Group and performed widely bothin the community and in professionaldance theatre. Other projects includeV&A Museum Christmas Project (1994),Shinkansen Cellbytes (2001), BBCMegaMela Awards (2002) andchoreographing Al’Dakaam for Para-Active Theatre (2000). Shane has alsoworked with Akshaya Dance Theatre,Annapurna Dance Company andShobana Jeyasingh Dance Company. Hisforthcoming projects include dancingwith Leela Samson Group and ShobanaJeyasingh Dance Company.

LIA PRENTAKIContemporary Dance

Lia trained in contemporary dance at theUniversity of Birmingham (BA Hons2000), and at London ContemporaryDance School. She has worked withTopiary Dance (1998-2001), AbigailMarion Dance (2001-2003) and Solas(resolution 2003). She was AssistantChoreographer for the Actors ofDionysus’ Antigone (2001) and performedin the title role at Sheffield Crucible. Herlatest engagement was for Battersea ArtsCentre in Innocence, a piece byDominique Leclerk. She is currentlycompleting an M.Phil in dance from theDepartment of Drama and Theatre Arts,the University of Birmingham.

ORPHY ROBINSON Music and Effects

Jamaican born Orphy enjoys aninternational reputation as a composerand improviser who is able to combinejazz, contemporary, classical, African andfunk musical idioms. He has composednumerous scores for film, television andcommercials. A past winner of British JazzAwards ‘Best Newcomer’, Orphy went onto win an award for ‘Best MiscellaneousInstrumentalist’ at the BBC Jazz Awards.He is to be heard playing on awardwinning albums by Courtney Pine, AndySheppard, Jazz Warriors, Jazz Jamaica,and Shivanova and he has consistentlybeen nominated during his career formany such awards. He has performedwith such luminaries as Don Cherry,Lester Bowie, David Murray, Butch Morrisand Henry Threadgill. Orphy has gone onto share billing with many legendarymusicians including John Scofield, HerbieHancock, Sonny Rollins, The BreckerBrothers, Cassandra Wilson, Joe Lavano,Ravi Shankar, Nana Vasconcelles, EvanParker, Tuck and Patti. In 2003, followingthe tour of South with Vayu NaiduCompany, he will be undertaking acommission for the Royal Opera House.

CHRIS BANFIELD Devising and Direction

Chris is based in Canterbury where he iscurrently Director of Drama at The King’sSchool. After graduating he worked forthe British Theatre Association in Londonbefore completing an MA in TheatreStudies at the Workshop Theatre,University of Leeds. From 1988-2000 helectured in the Department of Drama andTheatre Arts at the University ofBirmingham where his directing credits atthe Allardyce Nicoll Studio Theatre includeMankind, The Crucible, The Passion (alsoZaporozhye, USSR), Elegy for a Lady, ICan't Remember Anything, Reflection(MAC, Birmingham), The Madwoman ofCovent Garden, Il Campiello, SuddenlyLast Summer, 'Tis Pity She's A Whore,and plays by Indian playwrights GirishKarnad and Badal Sircar. Chris directedThe Greenhouse Effect for CounterpointTheatre Company (Riverside Studios) in1997. His collaboration with Vayu Naidubegan in 1999 when he directed NineNights – Stories from the Ramayana forLeicester Haymarket Theatre, aproduction combining Vayu's storytellingwith music by Colin Seddon. Recentproductions include Dancing at Lughnasa,The Government Inspector, The ResistibleRise of Arturo Ui, A Midsummer Night'sDream, Yerma, Animal Farm and YouCan't Take It With You. Chris is a memberof the British Psychological Society andwith Brian Crow, he is the author of AnIntroduction to Post-colonial Theatrepublished by Cambridge University Press.

MARSHA RODDYSet and Costume Design

Since graduating from Wimbledon Schoolof Art, Marsha has worked as a set andcostume designer for film, television andtheatre. She has worked for manyregional theatres as well as touringcompanies and in a variety ofperformance types including dance, plays,ballet and opera. Some of this workincludes: The Farm by Nell Leyshon atSouthwark Playhouse and South Westtour; Perfectly Poisonous and I Can'tStand Wagner for Opera Jigsaw at theBloomsbury Theatre and UK tour; Alicefor the Alexander Roy Ballet Company'sUK tour; The Secret of Life for AkshayaDance Company at the Queen ElizabethHall; Amen Corner for the Carib TheatreCompany at the Tricycle Theatre andWest End transfer; Café Vesuvio for theManchester Royal Exchange; Waiting forGodot for the Crucible Theatre, Sheffieldand You're Thinking About Doughnuts forthe Nottingham Playhouse. Marsha hasdesigned a number of shows for theLeicester Haymarket Theatre includingJudith (a collaboration with The WrestlingSchool), Romeo and Juliet, East is Eastand Bali. She has dedicated a lot of her

time to her love of children's theatre byworking with the UK's leading children'scompanies on shows including Rosie andJim's Big Adventure for RagdollProductions, The Magic Shoes for TheatreCentre, Wizadora and Playdays, both forFelgate Productions, and the LadyDragon's Lament for QuicksilverChildren's Theatre Company. While livingin Holland Marsha worked on a number offeature films including The Northerners,Oh Boy and My Blue Heaven, allproduced by First Floor Features. She hasworked on The Shiny Show, part of thelaunch of the BBC children's channel, andLittle Paz, with Open Mind productions forthe Discovery Channel.

DEE ASHWORTHLighting Design

Dee is presently Director of theGulbenkian Theatre on the campus of theUniversity of Kent at Canterbury. He wasresident lighting designer at the TheatreRoyal in Plymouth following a successfultouring career with Scottish Ballet. Henow combines arts administration withfreelance lighting design at all levels. He isChair of Vayu Naidu Company and Chairof South England Touring Agency.

Creative Team

ADAM MEGGIDOAssistant Director

Adam's recent directing credits include AMidsummer Night's Dream for NaturalPerspectives (Greenwich Park), OneSmall Thing (Pleasance), Punch Junkies(Edinburgh Festival and Brixton ShawTheatre – Critics’ Choice), Cold MoonRising (Jermyn Street Theatre), alsoKafka’s The Trial (MAC, Birmingham),and Cabaret and Consuming Passionsfor Mountview Theatre School. Adam isthe Artistic Director of The StickingPlace, a film and theatre companydedicated to new writing(www.thestickingplace.com). For thiscompany he has directed The Lie (King’sHead, Islington) and later in 2003 will bedirecting The End Of The Sentence andDark Meaning Mouse at the FinboroughArms. His own play The Best Men will bepart of the Guerilla Theatre Experiment innorth London in August 2003.

PAUL BULL Technical Manager: Lighting and Sound

In a long and varied freelance careerspanning 13 years and many genres, this isPaul’s first foray in the art of storytelling.However, that is not to say he is ill-preparedfor the journey. His experience coverscontemporary and Asian dance (his fiveyears with Shobana Jeyasingh has broughthim into contact with Bharatanatyam dancein general and Shane and Magdalen inparticular) and he first met Orphy some 15years ago in the musician's Jazz Warriorsdays. Paul regularly collaborates with TheWrestling School as sound designer, toursas sound engineer with electro-acousticsoprano Frances M. Lynch and ErrollynWallen’s multi-media production of JordanTown, and is a member of the improvisinggroup ensemble 8. He has also lit shows,including the Fringe First winning productionof Raw by Theatre Absolute, and acted asTechnical Manager for many companiesincluding Nahid Siddiqui, Anurekha Ghosh,The Mission and Watering Seeds.

DAVID GRIFFITHS Masks

David Griffiths lives in Rawdon, Yorkshireand is a writer, theatre director, teacherand dry stone waller. He is passionateabout the power of masks inperformance and especially the way inwhich mask based programmes oftraining can further enhance theperformance resources of actors. Hespent five months in Japan as a researchscholar of Noh Theatre at TokyoUniversity, drawing on this experience inthe completion of his PhD on masks atthe University of Leeds (1991).

AcknowledgementsLiterary and Oral sources of South: The Triumph of Art was inspired by Arion, in The Greek Myths by Robert Graves,(Penguin: 1992); Where Three Oceans Meet was inspired by Kanyakumari in Legends of Devi by Sukumari Bhattacharji(Sangam Books/Orient Longman Limited: 1995) and with special thanks to Swami Tripurananda for his version; The Golden Mead was inspired by The Mead of Poetry from The Norse Myths: Gods of the Vikings by Kevin Crossley-Holland (Penguin: 1982).

For the importance of the cardinal directions in building a house and man’s daily orientation in creating a microcosm tounderstand the macrocosm, acknowledgment is due to Lakshmi Holmström for Melinda A. Moore’s essay, ‘The KeralaHouse as a Hindu Cosmos’ in India through Hindu Categories, ed., by McKim Marriott (Sage Publications: 1990).

We especially thank: Angela Bertaille, Vanessa Booth, BCMG, Bhavanishankar, Jonathan Church, Felix Cross,Creative Partnerships, Simon Cullen, Laura Ellener, the Staff of Gulbenkian Theatre, Dr. Darryll Grantley, Felicity Harvest,Isobel Hawson, Judith Hibberd, Lakshmi Holmström, Girish Karnad, Mira Kaushik, The King’s School Canterbury, Sue McCormick, Deborah Metcalf, Frances Moran, Divya Mathur, Dr. Prashant Nayak, the Staff of The Nehru Centre, Stephen and Jackie Newbould, Pax Nindi, Mike Ralph, Kalpana Raghuraman, Natalie Ring, Robert Robson, SETA, Dr. Weishe Song, Drs. Nicola and Robert Shaughnessy, Sue Sherwood – and Unmai

...for all their support, endeavour and good wishes in making the vision of South, the inaugural productionof Vayu Naidu Company, a reality.

PatronGirish Karnad

BoardDee AshworthChairDr. Darryll GrantleyDr. Nicola ShaughnessyAnne Seller

Associate ArtistsRukhsana AhmadChris BanfieldNona Shepphard

VisionsTheatre: HayavadanaGirish Karnad

Playboy of the Asian WorldVayu Naidu

A History Cycle Rukhsana AhmadAdam Meggido

Storytelling and Music:Autumn Conversationswith Judith Weir

Joining Forceswith Orphy Robinson

About the CompanyVayu Naidu Company is anindependent touring theatrecompany based inCanterbury, South EastEngland since November2002. The central focus ofthe company isperformance storytelling. Itsnew work is committed tothe renaissance ofstorytelling as theatre andendeavours to redress itsanonymity with a signature.Storytelling apprenticeshipsare encouraged as a way ofdisseminating practice. Thecompany’s artistic idiomintegrates movement andmusic with narrativeinspired from oral historyand literary sources,recreated for performance.The range of work is formid-scale theatre venues,integrating diverse forms ofartistic and culturalexpression.

The company has twounique streams:

• New work with Britishcomposers and worldmusicians

• New writing for theatreabout the Diaspora andadaptations of worldclassics that feature astrong storytellingelement.

In 2002 South East Artsoffered a strategic levelgrant and a strongcommitment to Vayu NaiduCompany in creating afoundation for new work inarts practice. Vayu NaiduCompany returned inDecember 2002 from a verysuccessful All-India BritishCouncil Tour of FuturePerfect in collaboration withBirmingham ContemporaryMusic Group (BCMG) andcomposer/director JudithWeir CBE.

In 2003 the Arts CouncilEngland awarded VayuNaidu Company a NationalTouring Grant to tour Southfrom May 2003. South wasselected to be in the XTraxFestival of Decibel, Year ofCultural Diversity.

Vayu Naidu CompanyGulbenkian TheatreUniversity of KentCanterburyCT2 7NB

Tel/Fax: +44 (0)1227 766680 Mb: +44 07880 972010email: info@vayunaiducompany.org

vayunc@hotmail.comWeb: www.vayunaiducompany.org SOUTH The Tour 2003

MAY1 Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury 01227 769075

2-4 Manchester – ‘Xtrax’ performance Not open to public27 Purcell Room, Royal Festival Hall, London 020 7960 4242 29 The Mill Studio, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford 01483 440000 30 The Hawth Studio, Crawley 01293 553636 31 Trinity Theatre & Arts Centre, Tunbridge Wells 01892 678678

JUNE2 Quays Theatre, The Lowry, Manchester 0870 787 5790 7 Croydon Clocktower 020 8253 1030

14 Watermans Arts Centre, Brentford 020 8232 1010 17-21 The Door, Birmingham Repertory Theatre 0121 236 4455

24 Alnwick Playhouse 01665 510785 25 The Town Hall, Grassington Festival, Yorkshire 01756 752691 29 Glastonbury Festival 0115 9129129

JULY2 Phoenix Arts, Leicester 0116 255 4854 4 Ludlow Assembly Rooms 01584 878141 5 Queens Hall, Hexham 01434 652477

9-10 Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London 020 7304 4000 13 De la Warr Pavillion, Bexhill 020 7304 4000

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