Punjabi-language theatre group offers pathway to pride for Parc-Ex immigrants
Play to be performed Saturday tells story of Indian revolutionary figure
When Gurdeep Khinda moved from India to Montreal 30 years ago, he thought his dream of becoming an actor on stage was over. He was too busy navigating his new life and there weren't any theatre groups in the city catering to the Indian community at the time.
Decades later, he's booked the entire week off work to prepare for his upcoming performance on Saturday — when he'll embody Indian anti-colonial revolutionary, Udham Singh.
"This is my priority," said Khinda. "When I was a child I said, 'OK, one day I'm going to be on the stage.' Then some people say it's impossible. I say, 'OK … but I will make it possible.'"
He is part of a Punjabi-language theatre group, the Centre for Performing Arts, born out of the Parc-Extension neighbourhood and formed by husband and wife duo Gaurav and Nitu Sharma who both have professional careers in the theatre and movie industries.
Khinda attended one of their plays three years ago and immediately decided to sign up. This will be his second performance with the group.
"This is what I was looking for," he said.
Saturday's cast is composed of 20 immigrants from India, most of whom are first-time performers.
They're interpreting the play Ram Mohammad Singh Azad: The spirit of freedom at La Sala Rossa in the Mile End neighbourhood Saturday at 5 p.m. It will be subtitled in French and English.
Gaurav Sharma had the idea of introducing recent immigrants to the theatre space while he was giving workshops on workers' and tenants' rights as a community organizer with the Immigrant Workers Centre (IWC).
He said he hopes that by embodying freedom fighters and learning about India's history of activism, the cast members will feel more confident to demand their own rights be respected in every aspect of life.
Play details important story in Indian history, say actors
The play tells the story of Udham Singh, who on March 13, 1940, assassinated Sir Michael O'Dwyer, the former lieutenant-governor of Punjab, at the time a province of British India, to avenge the victims of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre 20 years earlier. That day, British troops opened fire on a crowd of unarmed Indian civilians who had gathered at a large enclosed garden.
British estimates set the death toll at 379 while others say upward of 1,000 people were massacred.
During his trial, Singh took the name Ram Mohammad Singh Azad to represent a unified India which, at the time, was struggling for independence. He was executed by hanging in 1940.
It's an important story Sharma, Khinda and other adults learned growing up in India. Khinda plays Singh when he was in London, where the assassination took place. Sharma plays the younger version of the character in India.
Sharma said it's important for people to know about their history.
"We have the technology but we forget the history," he said.
Theatre as a tool for reconnection
Ashpreet Kaur plays the role of a freedom fighter in the play. It's a story she's well familiar with, having learned it from her grandparents. Her husband plays the hangman.
"It's a very emotional story," she said, adding that she wants to give it 100 per cent.
For the last three months she's been practising her lines and choreography during her lunch breaks and attending rehearsals at the Aréna Howie-Morenz after her work shift.
It's her first time acting but she says she's not nervous and is eagerly awaiting Saturday.
"When we are children we have some hobbies, but when we are grown up we just forget about them because of stress or other activities," she said, with the help of a fellow cast member who translated for her.
Mostafa Henaway, another community organizer with the IWC, said the play offers its members an opportunity to express themselves, adding that too often immigrants tend to lose themselves in the turbulence of moving and surviving in a new country.
"To me it's always the hardest part when dealing with a lot of people that we work with," he said. "It's not the status or the wages or what takes place in the work, but people making sacrifices their whole lives and then further sacrificing themselves."
Nitu Sharma says she's already preparing for their next production in October. That will be the sixth play her group stages since she and Gaurav arrived in Montreal in 2019.
Khinda will be on the stage again.
"This is something that always touches my whole spirit," he said about acting. "My family, relatives, friends — everybody — they feel proud."
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