Stage Door News
Stage Door News
From Jivesh Parasram, Associate Artistic Producer at Theatre Passe Muraille and Artistic Producer of Pandemic Theatre and recipient of two Harold Awards including the Ken McDougall Award for promising emerging director, comes Take d Milk, Nah?
Jivesh is “Canadian.” And “Indian.” And “Hindu.” And “West Indian.” “Trinidadian” too. Or maybe he’s just colonized.
And this is the story of how he once birthed a cow… kinda.
In Take d Milk, Nah? Parasram blends personal storytelling and ritual to walk an audience through the Hin-do’s and Hin-don’ts at the intersections of these cultures. A refreshingly candid and delightfully funny look at race, religion and nationalism(s), Take d Milk, Nah? examines what divides us – and what we’re willing to accept in the desire to belong.
Oh, did we mention there’s a cow?
There's something in this piece about placeless-ness for me. A feeling of never quite belonging, and the search for some peace in reconciling who you are. Finding family. Typical identity play stuff. Right? And it's all quite nice. And then of course the importance of sharing some of Indo-Caribbean history. This year marks 101 years since the end of the "Indian indentureship" in Trinidad, and yet it seems like no one's heard of it around here. Like my people's history, linked directly to Canada through missionary attempts to erase our culture, never happened. And so...in trying to hold onto an identity - things shatter. The more I learn my ancestral Hindu practices, the more I have to unlearn the colonial ways of thinking that I was taught. Which I know sounds heavy - but trust me it's way funnier. Cause maybe identity is kind of bullshit! Though on the other hand bullshit is maybe holy....?
- Jivesh Parasrarm, Creator and Performer
"As a white dude, I am very privy to the damaging imperial instinct towards "cultural tourism". There's a desire to taste every food, walk every street, and dance every dance, but without ever really engaging. Take d Milk, Nah? subverts this consumerist impulse, offering instead a meditation, a critical analysis, a communal space to reflect on dharmic religious practices and what family truly means."
-Tom Arthur Davis, Director
Take d Milk, Nah? is co-produced by bcurrent performing arts and Pandemic Theatre, with the support of Theatre Passe Muraille - a conscious cross-cultural collaboration by the makeup of the creative team/s. It has evolved over the years from its early performance at the rock.paper.sistahz. festival to its current form, premiering in Theatre Passe Muraille’s Backspace April 10th, 2018.
"Supporting Jivesh's play signifies a new chapter and the rebirth of bcurrent performing arts. For the last 26 years we have produced work by the Black and brown diaspora. Take d Milk, Nah? pays homage to that legacy while challenging traditional ways of storytelling. Co-producing with Pandemic Theatre and its usual boundary-pushing shenanigans has been a partnership made in subversive theatre heaven."
– Catherine Hernandez, Artistic Director of bcurrent
Take d Milk, Nah?
Written & performed by – Jivesh Parasram
Directed by – Tom Arthur Davis
Dramaturgy by– Graham Isador
Co-produced by - b current Performing Arts and Pandemic Theatre, with the support of Theatre Passe Muraille
Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, 16 Ryerson Ave., Toronto
April 10th- 22nd, 2018 – Tues to Saturday 7.30pm / Saturday & Sunday Matinee at 2:00pm
General Admission- $20
Click here for tickets or call (416) 504-7529
Photo: Jivesh Parasram. ©2017 Marko Kovacevic.
2018-02-22
Toronto: b current performing arts and Pandemic Theatre present "Take d Milk, Nah?" April 10-22