About the Play:

Love, Loss, and Longing: South Asian Canadian Plays is a collection of six plays from acclaimed and award-winning South Asian Canadian playwrights that explore themes of family, love, trauma, race, and more. Featuring introductions by directors, dramaturgs, and playwrights, each play is contextualized to explain its relevance and importance in the community.

The collection Love, Loss, and Longing includes:

Bhopal by Rahul Varma (introduced by Guillermo Verdecchia) is a world-renowned, critically acclaimed play that brings to life the human stories within the complex political and economic milieu that created the worst industrial disaster the world has ever known. An explosion at the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, India in December 1984 spewed poisonous Methyl Isocyanate gas that took an estimated 25,000 lives and currently affects nearly 500,000 people with neurological and respiratory illness, birth defects, and disability and malformation among children. Rahul Varma weaves a fictional plot around the events leading up to and after the gas leak to create a powerful, moving piece. Bhopal is a reminder that the frequency of industrial disasters is on the rise all over the world with oil spills, pipeline leaks, hazardous chemicals being dumped into our oceans, and closer to home, the disaster in the town of Lac-Mégantic in Québec. (Premiered in 2001 at Montréal arts interculturels (MAI); Cast: 3 women, 5 men)

Bombay Black by Anosh Irani (introduced by Brian Quirt) is a searing love story between a blind man and a dancer. In a seaside flat, the iron-willed Padma takes money from men so they may watch her daughter, Apsara, perform a mesmerizing dance. Apsara's extraordinary beauty and erotically charged dancing cast a powerful spell over her wealthy and famous clientele. One day, a mysterious blind man named Kamal visits for a private dance. Kamal is somehow linked to their past. His secret threatens to change each of their lives forever. Bombay Black features a remarkable poetic text, bold theatrical imagery, and a gritty twist. (Premiered in 2006 at Theatre Centre in Toronto and was a Finalist for the Governor General's Award for Drama; Cast: 2 women, 1 man)

A Brimful of Asha by real-life mother and son Ravi Jain and Asha Jain (introduced by Nicolas Billon) tells the true tale of how Ravi's parents planned a surprise trip to India to intercept him on his vacation and arrange his marriage. Ravi Jain is an award-winning actor, director, and producer. Asha Jain is his mother and until A Brimful of Asha, had never performed on a stage. (Premiered in 2012 at Tarragon Theatre in Toronto; Cast: 1 woman, 1 man)

Crash by Pamela Mala Sinha (introduced by Judith Thompson). After the loss of a loved one, a woman must face the shattering memories of a past trauma. Crash is the fractured unravelling of memory; a tour de force narrative about family, faith and love. (Premiered in 2012 at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto; Cast: 1 woman playing multiple roles)

Pyaasa by Anusree Roy (introduced by Andy McKim). Set in Calcutta, Pyaasa tells the story of Chaya, an eleven-year-old untouchable who dreams of nothing more than learning her times tables. When Chaya's mother begs a woman from a higher caste to give Chaya a job at a local tea stall, Chaya's journey from childhood to adulthood begins and ends over ten days. A moving and heartfelt play, Pyaasa illustrates with subtlety and nuanced truth the inequalities and injustices that persist through the Indian caste system. (Premiered in 2007 at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto; Cast: 1 woman playing multiple roles)

Boys with Cars by Anita Majumdar (introduced by Yvette Nolan) follows Naz, a classically trained Indian dancer, who dreams of getting out of the small town of Port Moody to attend the University of British Columbia. But when Buddy causes a stir over Naz at her high school, Naz's university plans begin to crumble quickly. With her future in serious jeopardy, where will Naz turn, and, more importantly, to whom? (Premiered in 2014 at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa; Cast: 1 woman playing multiple roles)

About the Editor:

Dalbir Singh is a Canadian editor, educator, playwright, and academic. His publications have been included in such journals and anthologies as Canadian Theatre Review, Critical Perspectives on Canadian Theatre, Red Light, and She Speaks. His plays have been performed at the Harbourfront Centre, Factory Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, and on CBC Radio. He headed theatre festivals whilst attaining a PhD in Theatre and South Asian Studies at the University of Toronto, and has taught courses at the University of Toronto, University of Guelph, and University of Waterloo.