Guru in Singapore

New Zealand’s Indian Ink theatre company has been collaborating with the Singapore Repertory Theatre presenting Wellington actor Jacob Rajan’s The Guru of Chai, which was on at Singapore’s DBS Arts Centre. Not only did the rich backdrop transport you to exotic India, your sense of smell was engaged too — something quite rare as far as theatre experiences go. “The Guru of Chai is based on an Indian folktale called Punchkin, which we dug out from a dusty corner of the library,” Rajan said. The play has been described as Flight of the Conchords meets Slumdog Millionaire — and, yes, there was a little song and dance, too. Auckland musician David Ward played the Guru’s sidekick, Dave, who was “sort of a living soundtrack”. Said Rajan: “He plays a banjo, of all things, but it’s tuned to sound like a sitar.”