As part of the Wales in Kolkata season Theatr Iolo, Wales’ theatre company for children and young people, visited Kolkata in India in January 2019.
Theatr Iolo presented the Theatr Iolo and The Riverfront production of Transporter, a one-woman play about a 13 year-old girl Maya,which was written and performed by Catherine Dyson, Directed by Andy Smith with an original soundtrack by Lewis Gibson at the Tata Steel Junior Kolkata Literary Meet at the Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata.
Catherine Dyson also delivered writing and performing workshops to young people at ThinkArts Corner.
Catherine took 10 participants through a series of practical writing exercises exploring ideas of writing and presentation, content and form, as well as unique approaches to generating and presenting material. The exercises demonstrated how their own lives and memories can be used as a powerful source for drama, how 'instant stories' can be created by using language in unexpected ways, and how the form and shape of writing can reflect its content.
After completing the three workshops and writing their own short story, Catherine helped them to prepare and present their work to an audience. This live presentation took place at the Junior Kolkata Literary Meet, at the Victoria Memorial Hall to an audience of over 300 people, including a large school group and the general public.
Find out more about Catherine’s experience
Transporter was part of Kolkata in India, a season of Welsh arts activity and collaboration that took place in Kolkata in January 2019. Supported by the British Council and Wales Arts International.
Wales in Kolkata was a result of the relationships and networks formed by the 2017/18 #IndiaWales season, a major collaboration between Wales and India.