Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Crow’s Theatre and Human Cargo are thrilled to announce the World Premiere of The Road to Paradise at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre beginning November 14, 2015. Written by Jonathan Garfinkel and Christopher Morris, directed by Morris, and starring Pakistani screen star Samiya Mumtaz, Afghanistan’s Parwin Mushtael, and Canada’s Christine Horne, The Road to Paradise is a Crow’s Theatre presentation of a Human Cargo production.
A story ripped from the headlines, The Road to Paradise documents the stories of a child suicide bomber in Pakistan, a Canadian soldier in Kandahar, and an Afghan immigrant in Toronto. Based on interviews conducted with families of the Canadian Armed Forces and families of the Pakistan and Afghan Army, this gripping play explores how the war in Afghanistan has affected the lives of women and children. Each chapter is brought to life by actresses from each of the countries involved: Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Canada – a remarkable feature of this borderless production.
The play was developed over the course of six years, during which Human Cargo Artistic Director Christopher Morris and his collaborators travelled in Canada and abroad, meeting international creative partners and conducting their interviews with families who have experienced the costs of war first hand. The Road to Paradise is created in collaboration with Pakistan’s renowned Ajoka Theatre and with actors from each country in the spirit of Human Cargo’s artistic mandate to foster an international theatre ecology.
In The Road to Paradise, internationally acclaimed actress Parwin Mushtael plays a character based on herself. Mushtael saw her husband brutally gunned down only two months after joining the stage project, due to her career as a stage and screen actress in Afghanistan. With the assistance of Christopher Morris and others, Mushtael resettled with her children in Toronto in 2010, where she found herself battling a new enemy – post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD and the emotional scars left on families and children of war form another major thematic thread in the play, one that is particularly relevant as countries around the world unite to provide refuge for displaced Syrian families.
The Road to Paradise is presented in English/Dari with a cast of Canadian, Afghan and Pakistani actors, and explores how the war in Afghanistan is affecting the lives of women and children. Surtitles will translate all Dari dialogue into English. Following the world premiere at Buddies, the production will be touring to the Aga Khan Museum in Thorncliffe Park (December 2nd), CFB Petawawa (December 5th), and Pakistan.
“This innovative creation process, the people we met and the stories they shared with us, has made this more than the creation of a play; it has become a life-changing experience we will carry with us forever,” said Human Cargo Artistic Director Christopher Morris. By spending time with the people who are living in the midst of the issues we are exploring, we experienced first hand the human conflicts at the heart of this play. The pain we were exposed to when sitting with a distraught mother in Swat, Pakistan, who was weeping over her missing fifteen-year old Taliban son was as palpable as the pain from the mother we sat with in Petawawa, Ontario who was mourning the death of her son in Afghanistan.
“As a creative team, we’re striving to make a piece of theatre that is worthy of the profundity that surrounds this play. This is the story of our generation and it is with dignity, humbleness, and a fierce sense of purpose, that we stage the world premiere of The Road to Paradise.”
In the spirit of increasing discussion through debate, Human Cargo will be hosting a panel discussion at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre during the run of the play in Toronto. Moderated by the CBC’s Piya Chattopadhyay, this hour-long discussion will provide opportunities for audiences to further discuss PTSD, immigration, and the radicalization of youth.
CROW’S THEATRE and HUMAN CARGO present the WORLD PREMIERE of
THE ROAD TO PARADISE
A Crow’s Theatre presentation of a Human Cargo production
Written by Jonathan Garfinkel and Christopher Morris
Conceived by Human Cargo
Directed by Christopher Morris
Starring Pakistani screen star Samiya Mumtaz, Afghanistan’s Parwin Mushtael,
and Canada’s Christine Horne
On stage at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (12 Alexander St.) November 14th-28th, 2015
The Road to Paradise will run from Saturday, November 14th to Saturday, November 28th (Opening performance: November 17th) at the Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (12 Alexander St.). Performances are Tuesday – Saturday at 8:00pm, with a preview performances on Saturday, November 14th and Sunday, November 15th at 8:00pm and matinees on November 21st, 22nd and 28th at 2:30pm. Tickets from $20 to $37 are available by phone at 416-975-8555, online at www.humancargo.ca , www.crowstheatre.com, or in person at the Buddies in Bad Times Theatre box office.
The play will then begin touring with a special presentation at the Aga Khan Museum, December 2, 2015 at 8pm. Tickets starting at $35 are available at www.agakhanmuseum.org.
Twitter: @crowstheatre, @HCTheatreCo
Twitter Hashtag: #ParadisePlay
Photo: Samiya Mumtaz and Zachary Dugan. ©2013 Trudie Lee.
2015-11-13
Toronto: The world premiere of "The Road to Paradise" plays at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre November 14-28