Paradise or the Impermanence of Ice Cream by courttheatrenz

Written by Jacob Rajan & Justin Lewis

Starring Jacob Rajan & Jon Coddington

Directed by Justin Lewis

DANCE INTO VILLAGE LIFE

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Written

Jacob Rajan & Justin Lewis

Starring Jacob Rajan & Jon Coddington

Directed by Justin Lewis

Jacob Rajan - Writer/Actor

Justin Lewis - Writer/Director

Jon Coddington - Puppet Design/Build/Puppeteer

Adam Ogle - Sound Operator

Sam Mence - Production & Tour Manager/Lighting Operator

Murray Edmond - Dramaturge

John Verryt - Set Design

Elizabeth Whiting - Costume Design

David Ward - Composer & Sound Design

D. Andrew Potvin - Lighting Design

Bala Murali Shingade - Projected Imagery Photographer/Editor

Indian Ink Theatre Company Acknowledgements:

Jude Froude – General Manager

Pene Lister – Producer

Naomi Campion – Administration and Development Manager

Te Huamanuka Luiten-Apirana – Next Gen Programme Leader

Olivia Brinkmann – Digital Marketer

The Court Theatre Company Acknowledgements:

Alex Wilson - Production Manager

Jo Bunce - Head Stage Manager

Giles Tanner - Head Tecnician

Geoff Nunn - Lighting and Sound Technician

Matthew Duffy - Workshop Manager

Emma Finlay - Production Coordinator

Seth Edwards-Ellis, Edward Roche - Workshop

Daniella Salazar - Costume Manager

Findlay Currie - Costume Technician

Julian Southgate - Properties Manager

Rochelle Wright - Properties Assistant

Alison Walls - Artistic Director

Tim Bain - Associate Artistic Director

Running Time: 70 minutes with no interval

Content Advisory: References to death.

staged at The Court Theatre 19 - 28 September 2024.

Proudly printed by Caxton

GRAB YOUR ICE CREAM & ENJOY THE SHOW!

NAU MAI HAERE MAI

Indian Ink is an iconic Aotearoa New Zealand theatre company. In both form and subject, the company, founded by Jacob Rajan (MNZM) and Justin Lewis, have developed theatre that is uniquely their own since 1997. The Court Theatre is thrilled to have Indian Ink bring Paradise or the Impermanence of Ice Cream to our stage.

The Court Theatre is a producing company, but we are privileged to also open our stage and offer our audiences those pieces of theatre that could only be produced by the creatives who generated the work. Paradise is just such a piece. As with all Indian Ink productions, it is strong in humour, technique, and human connection. Jacob is renowned for his ability to inhabit multiple characters, drawing on global traditions of mask and clown, and here takes on seven. It is also a joy to see puppetry created and performed with superb artistry by Jon Coddington. Despite being one of the oldest forms of performance across a huge variety of cultures, puppetry outside

of children’s theatre is a rare treat in Aotearoa. Paradise is ambitious in scope, partially inspired by American cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning 1974 book The Denial of Death, Parsi funereal rites and Mumbai’s disappearing vultures; it is funny, profound and poetic.

We are grateful to our—very appropriate—sponsor Tip Top Ice Cream, for helping us to bring this special work to our stage. We are grateful too to Creative New Zealand, and to our season sponsor Ryman Healthcare for their continued and essential support, enabling us to do what we do, alongside the generous support, as well as hard work and dedication, from many others.

Enjoy the show!

Gretchen La Roche Executive Director

Dr Alison Walls Artistic Director

INDIAN INK THEATRE COMPANY

We’re guided by the ‘Serious Laugh,’ a love of mask and of story. We aim to make theatre that is beautiful, funny, sad and true – to leave an indelible imprint on your heart.

Indian Ink began 27 years ago as a partnership between Jacob Rajan and Justin Lewis. Since then we’ve gathered a team of long-term collaborators, made 11 shows together and had the great pleasure of performing around the world.

Our home is Aotearoa New Zealand and it’s a long way from our islands to India. We’ve always had to use our imaginations and be led by our curiosity with the theatre we make so please forgive the artistic licenses we take. We hope to capture something of the essence of what makes us all human while celebrating the flavours that make each of us unique.

JACOB RAJAN

Justin and I went to Mumbai around the beginning of 2019 to work on a completely different project and stumbled on the Towers of Silence. Set amongst some of the most expensive real estate in the world is a vast green area with these forbidden Towers.

We became fascinated with this idea of a sky burial where you lay the bodies out, you don’t burn them, you don’t bury them, you leave them out for the vultures. That then took us into the Parsi faith, and all of this caught up with us when we came home.

As a playwright I’m led by my curiosity. I’m curious about things I don’t know about and then I research them and write about them as if I do. Which, of course, I don’t. Not really.

JUSTIN LEWIS

When I met my wife, she was an actor but in recent years she has also become a director – a funeral director. Consequently, death has become a part of my daily life although often I really, really, really don’t want to think about it. Then I discovered Ernest Becker’s Pulitzer Prize winning Denial of Death, where he argues that that the fear of death drives our culture and the idea for this show was born.

The play really found its form when Jacob and I were in Mumbai. There we discovered a cosmopolitan city buzzing with life, whose skies were once filled with thousands of vultures but were now empty. I viewed vultures as brutishly ugly harbingers of death. What I discovered was a creature whose most repulsive features are entirely functional, that does humanity an incredible

If you haven’t heard of the Parsi community then you’re not alone but I can almost guarantee that you’ve been influenced by at least one. Parsis have made an enormous contribution to India and the world. In politics, industry, medicine, finance, science, music, art and theatre this ethnic group has been extraordinarily influential out of all proportion to their numbers.

The eclectic bunch of Parsis portrayed in this play are entirely fictional and I hope cause no offense to a people I hold in extremely high regard.

If you’re reading this and happen to be Parsi I cling to one generalisation about your kin I dearly wish to be true: they have a great sense of humour.

service by cleansing the environment and in flight is one of the most magnificent birds on earth.

We hung our story loosely on the Persian epic Gilgamesh. It’s a tale of friendship, a hero who journeys to the underworld seeking eternal life and finds happiness only by accepting their mortality. Perhaps the things we fear most can set us free – like the vulture.

Nobody noticed the disappearance of India’s vultures until it was too late. It’s the fastest extinction of all time. In Paradise, we aim to celebrate the passion of youth and the wisdom that comes with age, to imagine peace found through acceptance and speak of the need for action.

All aboard the Tormore Express!

The ultimate murder mystery dinner, theatre and train experience, brought to you by Great Journeys New Zealand and The Court Theatre.

As darkness falls, you’ll travel through the Canterbury landscapes, indulging in a delicious multi-course Chef’s choice dinner, paired with local wines. When a murder unfolds on board the train, you must take on the role of detective and help to solve the crime before the journey ends… Can you uncover the truth?

Sat 26 Oct 2024, 5:15pm–10:30pm

Sun 27 Oct 2024, 5:15pm–10:30pm

Mon 30 Dec 2024, 5:15pm–10:30pm Tue 31 Dec 2024, 5:15pm–10:30pm

Scan here for more information and to book or call 0800 872 467

OUR PEOPLE

Jacob Rajan – Writer/Actor

Jacob is a founding partner of Indian Ink and co-wrote all of Indian Ink’s plays as well as performing in many of them. He is a graduate of Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School, Otago University (B.Sc Microbiology) and Wellington Teacher’s College. Jacob is an Arts Foundation Laureate and a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to theatre.

Justin Lewis – Writer/Director

Justin is a founding partner of Indian Ink. He has co-written and directed all of Indian Ink’s plays. He was one of the founders of Auckland’s Q Theatre and received a Kaupapa Oranga Award for his services to theatre. Justin is a graduate of the John Bolton Theatre School and the University of Auckland.

Jon Coddington - Puppet Design/Build/Puppeteer

Jon is a theatre designer and collaborator, illustrator, animator and sculptor, but has been primarily working as a puppeteer and puppet-maker for the past eight years. Highlights include hit show Puppet Fiction (2012-18) selling out everywhere it has performed.

Adam Ogle – Sound Operator

Adam Ogle is a guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He received the Frank Winter Memorial Award awarded for his outstanding contribution as a young instrumentalist. For Indian Ink Theatre Company, Adam has toured around New Zealand with The Elephant Thief, and internationally with The Elephant Wrestler and Krishnan’s Dairy.

Sam Mence – Production & Tour Manager/Lighting Operator

Sam is the Director of Creative Ambiance Stage Technologies Ltd (CASTL. nz). A talented designer and stage technician, his specialty lies in musical theatre and building bespoke technical systems to amplify storytelling in new and creative ways.

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Murray Edmond - Dramaturge

Murray has been dramaturge on all of Indian Ink’s productions. A poet and founder of Town and Country Players (NZ), Murray has recently retired from his role as Professor of Drama at The University of Auckland where he headed the drama programme.

John Verryt - Set Design

John has worked on all of Indian Ink’s productions bar one. With over 40 years’ experience John is a leading New Zealand stage designer with an extensive portfolio of work including NZ Opera, Auckland Theatre Company, The Large Group and many others.

Elizabeth Whiting - Costume Design

Elizabeth, a Chapman Tripp Costume Design Award winner, has represented NZ twice at the Prague Design Quadrennial. Her opera designs have seen global success in the US and Australia. She has designed for almost every performing arts company in NZ, including WOW since 2012.

David Ward – Composer & Sound Design

David is a musician and composer who has enjoyed a long creative collaboration with Indian Ink. In 2010 and 2014 he was awarded Most Outstanding Composer at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards for Guru of Chai and Kiss the Fish.

D. Andrew Potvin - Lighting Design

Andrew has been working with Indian Ink since 2015, touring domestically and internationally. He is the Director of Andrew Potvin Designs Ltd which specialises in tour management, business development and lighting design.