Mahesh Dattani: a celebrated playwright and director from India. Mahesh was involved at the very start of Border Crossings' work, collaborating with Michael Walling on a project which would generate many of the company's key ideas: THE TEMPEST in Bangalore in 1995. Mahesh's own play BRAVELY FOUGHT THE QUEEN was an early project for the company in 1996, and was re-visited in the 2025 CHECKPINT performance. Mahesh was also a dramaturg on the 2009-10 project RE-ORIENTATIONS. The interview focuses on the growing creative relationship between Michael and Mahesh in the 1990s, leading to THE TEMPEST and BRAVELY FOUGHT THE QUEEN.
Jonathan Meth: dramaturg and co-ordinator of The Fence network. Jonathan and The Fence have been partners with Border Crossings on the CRE-ACTORS project, which brought together different companies from France, Italy, Ireland and Sweden to learn from one another's approach to intercultural devising, and on THE LEGEND OF EUROPA, which at the time of the interview was going through its development process. The interview deals with these projects, as well as offering insights into the ways in which individual artists and their personal relationships affect the work they create.
Brian Woolland has been a central figure in the work of Border Crossings, from his role as a member of the founding board, through the writing of three important plays for the company, to dramaturgical input on devised work. In this interview, he focuses on the writing processes for DOUBLE TONGUE (2001-2), THIS FLESH IS MINE (2014) and WHEN NOBODY RETURNS (2016). in each case, he emphasises the importance of collaboration and openness, working in dialogue with people from the countries and cultures which the plays explore.
