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A simple8 and Royal & Derngate, Northampton co-production in association with Park Theatre
A Passage to India
SIMON DORMANDY I ADAPTOR & DIRECTOR
SEBASTIAN ARMESTO I DIRECTOR
KULJIT BHAMRA I ORIGINAL MUSIC
DORA SCHWEITZER I DESIGN
PREMA MEHTA I LIGHTING DESIGN
Based on the original novel by E.M. Forster
Simon Dormandy | Director
As an actor, Simon Dormandy worked with Cheek by Jowl, the RSC, the Donmar and the Old Vic, as well as with many other companies, on film and TV. Between 1997 and 2012 he taught, directed and ran the theatre complex at Eton College where he was Director of Drama. Since becoming a freelance theatre director in 2013, he has collaborated with Simon McBurney on Complicite’s The Encounter, co-directed his own stage adaptation of the Coen Brothers’ film The Hudsucker Proxy for Nuffield, Southampton and Liverpool Playhouse, and directed Julius Caesar at The Bristol Old Vic, Luce at Southwark Playhouse, and Eldorado and Waiting for Godot at the Arcola Theatre. His production of Much Ado About Nothing which will open at The Rose in Kingston in April 2018. He has taught and directed at Shakespeare’s Globe, RADA, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and Drama Centre.
Sebastian Armesto | Director
Sebastian has co-directed and co-written all of simple8's productions to date, including Don’t Sleep There Are Snakes (Park Theatre), and The Texas Sharpshooter, Moby Dick, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Four Stages of Cruelty, The Living Unknown Soldier and Les Enfants du Paradis (all Arcola Theatre). In 2016 he completed his first feature film, For Grace.
He trained and works as an actor. Some of his recent work includes Broadchurch and James Marsh's film The Mercy, as well as the forthcoming television series The Terror and the latest series of Harlots.
Kuljit Bhamra | Composer and Musician
Kuljit is perhaps the most inspiring and influential musician, composer and record producer on the British Asian music scene. Spearhead of the Bhangra movement, Kuljit has composed and produced over 2000 songs and is responsible for the rise to fame of numerous Bhangra and Bollywood stars.
He has worked, both independently and collaboratively, on film scores for over ten years, including the soundtrack for the award winning Bhaji on the Beach, A Winter of Love, Bend it Like Beckham and appearances on The Guru, The Four Feathers and more recently Alexander, Brick Lane and Charlie & The Chocolate Factory.
Kuljit also appeared in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical Bombay Dreams, for which he performed as on-stage percussionist. He went on to write the Indian music for the West End musical The Far Pavilions, credited by The Independent as “An electrifying Indian score”. More recently, he co-orchestrated the music for the west end musical adaptation of Bend it Like Beckham in which he also performed on stage.
He is the recipient of many awards including a platinum disc for outstanding record sales presented by the much-loved BBC Radio DJ, John Peel who was a big fan of his music. His cutting-edge projects and ground-breaking educational work earned him the prestigious honor of MBE in the Queen's birthday list 2009. The citation reads 'For Services To Bhangra & British Asian Music' and was the first time that these genres had been acknowledged in this way.
In his ongoing mission to Demystify Indian Music, Kuljit recenty created a new universal Indian Drum Notation System, which he is currently disseminating with his company Keda Music.
Dora Schweitzer | Set and Costume Designer
Dora trained on the Motley Theatre Design Course, and was taught by the legendary Percy Harris and Alison Chitty. Dora previously graduated with a first in English Literature from UEA.
She has designed over eighty productions, including: Seagull (Arcola); Emma (Edinburgh, Watford Palace & Tricycle); 5 national tours of Grumpy Old Women Live (Avalon); The Lifeblood (Wiltons, Riverside Studios); Cider With Rosie, Dick Turpin, and Merchant of Venice (Bury St Edmunds Theatre Royal/ national tours). Dora designs regularly for Lamda and Guildhall Drama Schools, including productions of Journey's End, Pentecost, Nicholas Nickleby and Rent.
Other projects include: The Canterbury Tales (Guildford Shakespeare Company); The Trials of Oscar Wilde (European Arts : Trafalgar 2); two aerial productions with Actors of Dionysus: Medea' (Rose, Kingston) and Helen of Troy (tour) and Pride and Prejudice (Theatre Royal Bury-St-Edmunds, tour, Jermyn Street Theatre).
Most recently Dora designed The Wipers Times, by Ian Hislop & Nick Newman, which has completed two sell-out tours and a run in the West End, and is returning in 2018!
Prema Mehta | Lighting Designer
Prema Mehta graduated from The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London.
She has since designed the lighting across the UK for over one hundred and fifty productions, including East is East (Northern Stage); Wipers (Leicester Curve and UK tour); With A Little Bit of Luck (Latitude Festival); Murder, Margaret and Me (York Theatre Royal); Spring Awakening (National Youth Music Theatre); Hercules (Nottingham Playhouse and UK tour); Made in India (UK tour); Jefferson’s Garden (Watford Palace Theatre); The Great Extension (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Snow Queen (Derby Theatre); The Electric Hills (Liverpool Everyman); Mighty Atoms (Hull Truck); Everything Is Possible: The York Suffragettes (York Theatre Royal); Sufi Zen (Royal Festival Hall); Dhamaka (O2 Arena) and Maaya (Westminster Hall).
Recent designs include: Of Kith and Kin (Sheffield Crucible) and Beauty and the Beast (Queen’s Theatre).
Forthcoming designs include Chicken Soup (Sheffield Crucible); Giulio Cesare (Bury Court Opera) and Holes (Nottingham Playhouse).
Prema also designed the lighting for the launch of a figure in the A-List party area at Madame Tussauds, London which is open to the public throughout the year. She
has been appointed as a Trustee for York Citizens’ Theatre Trust, York Theatre Royal.
Further details are available at www.premamehta.com