This summer, Theatre Ya Knowww, or “TYK” for short, invites you to gather in the open air for an electrifying performance that pulses with music, movement, and Desi resistance.

OMKARRA, a South Asian adaptation of Othello, is a reckoning and celebration — an act of courage by emerging professional artists reclaiming the narrative on their own terms.

What if Othello wasn’t about a fall from grace, but about a civilization standing tall?

Omkarra blends Shakespeare’s classic with the visual grit of Omkara, the 2006 Bollywood film adapted from William Shakespeare's Othello, written and directed by Vishal Bhardwaj.

The production unpacks love, jealousy and the politics of perception in a contemporary Desi lens, built through collective process and the lived experience of South Asian artists.

From June 28 – 30, at 2:30 pm and 8:30 pm in an amphitheatre behind 1 Brooke St., Vaughan, TYK gathers a powerhouse collective of emerging professional South‑Asian-Canadian artists who collide Shakespeare tragedy with movement, live music and skater attitude.

When diasporic communities are processing fresh images of conflict, TYK offers space to breathe, grieve and imagine new worlds together.

“Women bound by blood break the rules of legacy.”

Omkarra asks: "What does it mean to be seen, misjudged or rewritten?"

"How far will love bend before it breaks?"

This is a show that demands not just to be seen — but to be felt.

WHY SOUTH‑ASIAN THEATRE, WHY NOW?

South‑Asian artists represent one of the fastest‑growing creative labour pools in Canada, yet remain under 4 % of professional casts on major stages.

OMKARRA is TYK’s answer: a platform where Desi bodies occupy the centre, interrogate colonial texts and model co-creation as cultural resistance.

In our current geo-political climate, stories that humanise South‑Asian experiences, and refuse war‑time caricatures, are urgent acts of cultural diplomacy.

A world on edge, OMKARRA is an invocation: gather in the dusk, witness the heartbreak, and leave with new courage to rewrite the story.

ACCESS & COMMUNITY CARE

Accessible seating with unobstructed sight‑lines is reserved just outside the amphitheatre. There is a content advisory: Discussions of war, patriarchy and misogyny; recommended 13+. Additionally: aligned with TYK’s education-community mandate, talk-backs are available each show.

ABOUT  THEATRE  YA  KNOWWW

Based in Vaughan, TYK champions decolonial, joy‑centred performance making. We prioritise Black, Indigenous and racialised queer creators, fostering spaces where emerging professionals craft boldly and belong deeply. Recent initiatives include the 2025 Playwrights‑in‑Residence readings and the 48‑Hour Play/Film Fest.

CAST

The cast of OMKARRA is a dynamic ensemble, fully composed of emerging South Asian performers, each bringing fierce emotions and lived experience to the stage.

 • As Om, Shriyanshi Quanoonongo leads with intensity, tenderness and skater-kid swag.

 • Ranjeet Badesh brings a chilling calm and complex masculinity to Dev, the servant.

 • With sharp wit, Shayagi Kirupakaran offers an aching loyalty as Raani, Om’s mother.

 • Anuradha Grover-Tejpal lends Maya a quiet strength as the enchanted forest witch.

 • Pulsing with honesty, Daniya Ahmed grounds in a vulnerability as Ibha, Dev’s wife.

 • Yash Patel offers levity, charm and nuance as Yuvin, a war general caught in the crossfire.

Together, they form more than a cast of OMKARRA — they are a chorus of strength.

CREATIVE TEAM

This team is not just producing a play but creating a space of trust and transformation.

 • At the helm is director and producer Ethan Persyko, whose bold vision as well as trauma- informed leadership shape a process rooted in care and experimentation.

 • Playwright Faizan Bokhari weaves Shakespearean echoes with diasporic grit; Gandhaar Amin’s mesmerizing, heart-thumping score pulses with the emotional tether of the piece.

 • Kimmy D’Souza lends movement direction that is lyrical and grounded in resistance.

 • Set designer Maddy Szlafararski crafts a world of tension and texture, while Khaviya Skanthan, as lighting designer and assistant director, infuses the vision with precision.

 • Behind the scenes, Tarran Chana’s steady logistics, Dhaarna Anand’s intuitive stage management, and a team of emerging assistants bring deep commitment to every moment.

This team is not just producing a play—they are building a space of trust, transformation, and radical artistic ownership. OMKARRA is their collective act of storytelling.

For tickets visit www.eventbrite.com.