A motorcycle sidecar is being transformed into a travelling theatre by an Essex couple who are taking their travelling workshop to street children in India.
Husband and wife Dave and Mandy Rose, founders of touring theatre company The Grand Theatre of Lemmings, were inspired by the extraordinary young people they met on a past trip to India and came up with an idea to create change by helping children produce theatre shows.
During their two-month tour to India, the couple, from Manningtree, are hoping to stage shows in the slums of Chennai using a Royal Enfield motor bike and sidecar - dubbed The Smallest Theatre in the World.
The sidecar acts as prop store, box office and more - allowing the actors to turn any area into a stage and entertain up to 500 people at a time.
They already have a motorcycle creation here but unable to ship it to India they will spend time at the start of their trip recreating The Smallest Theatre in the World.
They are then going on to work with an organisation called The Little Theatre and a childrens’ home named The Russ Foundation to create a street theatre troop, largely made up of under prviliged children.
Dave said: “It is a nice coincidence, as we are the smallest theatre in the world.”
He added: “We are actually hoping to perform for employees of The Royal Enfield Factory to the company’s and their families in Chennai.
“And we want to teach the children at the Russ Foundation circus skills and provide them with the creative skills they need in order to put shows together for themselves.”
During their past trip they were booked by the British council to do an outside festival at an arts centre where they performed a comedy Morris dancing show. Mandy said: “The experience was surreal, because the audience were dumb-struck by westerners doing comedy.”
During September, Dave and Mandy managed to launch a crowd funding campaign and managed to raise £3,500 pounds, to fund their time in India and have further fundraising activities planned in the build up to Christmas.
They will be creating a documentary on their return with the help of a local film maker Alex Dellow who will be joining them on their intriguing journey.
For more information on The Smallest Theatre in the World including videos of street performances by Dave and Mandy see their Facebook page or their website.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here