Barbara Vijayakumar, the Rochdale-born visual artist and theatre company director, is on a UK tour of ‘Kathakali’.

The tour is a combination of drama, dance and music mixed with colourful costume and traditional chutti make up.

After training as a visual artist in the 1960s at the Rochdale College of Art, Mrs Vijayakumar set off travelling and it was in South India where she was introduced to the three-dimensional make-up known as chutti.

She eventually became the first female chutti artist in the world.

Alongside actor and husband, Kalamandalam Vijayakumar, they set up the Kala Chethena Kathakali Theatre Company and had their first UK tour in 1987.

For more details about the autumn tour, visit the website www.kathakali.net.