The Vancouver Fringe opened last night to the glee of the city’s theatre geeks. The line-up this year is bursting with its usual left-of-centre goodness. Playwright Munish Sharma brings cultural flavour to the festival this year with his dark comedy about an older South Asian lady, kidnapped by a man named Raj in “Mrs. Singh & Me”. Munish is a well-known actor in the city. This is his first project as a playwright and it has already created quite the buzz as the festival gains momentum. Munish talked to me about his labour of love and about what makes South Asian theatre so appealing.
This is your first time writing a play. How has the experience been?
It has been pretty fun but it has been a challenge. I wrote the play four years ago. I used to write a lot of sketch. I was the co-founder of a sketch group called “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Chicken”. Before that I used to write a little bit of spoken word as well. After writing this play, I showed it to a couple of friends and they were like “Oh yeah, it’s kinda funny but it needs work”. A friend of mine said, “Why don’t you send it to this writing contest?” so I said alright and sent it out. It didn’t even get opened up! That made me mad and I said, “I have to do this play!” I went travelling to India and when I came back in 2013 I started working on it seriously. I met Kathy Duborg who is the director of the show. She was directing “Bollywood Wedding” at the time. I met her and we instantly got along. She read the play. She said, “I really love it Munish, we can definitely do this but I’m going to be very hard on you. We’ll make it the best it can be”. I didn’t know what that meant at first but she taught me how to “kill your babies”. Kathy helped dramaturge the show for me. She taught me that if you write a good play it gets a life of its own. We started working on it together last fall and that is when the show started gaining legs. It started becoming clearer than it had been years ago.
Was it more fulfilling than acting someone else’s script?
For me it still never really clicks. I have these moments when we are rehearsing of “Oh yeah, I wrote this!” It is wonderful to have gotten to this point. I am very thankful for the people who helped me get to this point. One of the best parts is to see both Mrs. Singh and Raj come to life. Nimet Kanji plays Mrs. Singh. She played my mother in “Bollywood Wedding” in its first run. When I was writing the first draft of “Mrs. Singh & Me”, I immediately thought of her. It was a beautiful thing when she said yes. Watching her in the rehearsals and see her become exactly what I hoped for makes me really happy. I don’t know if I am going to start writing more plays in the future but this is a story that I felt I had to tell. I do believe everyone has one story in them to tell. This is mine. I used to volunteer for the Fringe back when I first moved here and I used to dream about having a show in the Fringe. I always dreamed of performing at the Cultch. Everything is just aligning now.
How did you get involved with the South Asian Arts Society?
I have a very wonderfully long relationship with them. They have always supported me. I met them through the sketch shows that I used to do. They used to produce those shows. They hired me to play the groom for “Bollywood Wedding”. I have a good rapport with them. I have even hosted comedy nights with them. They want to create fun, thought-provoking work. They keep it very true to working under the South Asian umbrella while also being versatile. I have been working with them for six years now!
Can you tell us about the premise of the play? What was the inspiration behind it?
I had a teacher who told me that when you start to write a play you write what you know and then you start taking chances afterwards. That is what I have done with this play. I wrote about what I know and then I put it into an absurd circumstance because I like making things weird. The premise of the play is that an Indian woman named Kuldeep Singh has been kidnapped and she is trapped in a storage space with a guy named Raj. She doesn’t know why. We are trying to set it up so that people come to find out why. There is a twist to it. It is a comedic drama and a little absurd. It is about two rights arguing to be more right.
What do you think is so entertaining about South Asian culture? Why is everyone so interested in these cross-cultural stories and how do they benefit us?
I think South Asian culture is very fun. There is a lot of celebration in the dancing and in the camaraderie, and that in itself is very exciting. There is Bhangra, which is a folk dance. It is so exhilarating and exciting that people always want to be a part of it. When you hear the dhol you want to dance. Classical dances like Bharatnatyam and Kathakali are one of the oldest forms of theatre. The celebration and the colours are a big part of the South Asian appeal. If you are aware of Bollywood cinema that is another draw. South Asian culture is very light. However, the themes in this play are very universal. As much as I incorporate a lot of South Asian ideas into the show, it is not meant for South Asian audiences exclusively. I wanted to make a Canadian show. If you put any other ethnicity in it, it would still work. In my mind Canada is multicultural. Any audience should be able to come see the show and still understand the themes. This play takes place in Canada and it is a Canadian play.
What is the status of South Asian theatre in Vancouver? Is it flourishing or does it need more support?
In Vancouver I don’t think there is any South Asian theatre at all. We are at the place now where theatre in general is becoming more diverse and more open-minded about casting. I hope that trend continues. More people are becoming aware that the images seen on stage and in the media don’t really show what the world actually looks like. There are many South Asian comedians who are really breaking barriers. They are really funny. In the next few years there definitely will be more South Asian-centric theatrical plays happening. I also think the idea of being a really good performer plays a big role in making these changes. You want to represent your ethnicity but at the same time you want to be seen as the best artist out there. You want to be open-minded and work with everyone. As artists we wish to be looked at as strong performers but at the same time you need to tell stories that need to be told. When I talk to people about my show they’re like, “Oh is it in English?” It definitely is in English. I don’t understand why it wouldn’t be! Sure I understand Hindi or Punjabi but I am from Canada. The characters have a South Asian background but they are Canadian.
How did you get into the theatre?
Art is very dear for me. As a kid I got held back a grade so I couldn’t read and write as quickly as the other kids. When we were performing “Peter Pan”, we had to line up to read a line on the chalkboard. I was terrified. I then realised that I could actually read and screamed it out. Everyone was like “Munish read out loud!” I ended up playing Captain Hook! Performance since then has always had a special place in my heart. I did my best to be a business student. I did a lot of theatre in high school but I had every intention of going into business. I didn’t do too well in the first year of University but in my second year I took a theatre class just for fun. The teacher was like “You have talent. You can do this if you apply yourself.” I worked really hard to get into Business Admin but I got denied by 0.5%. I was crushed. I just sat in my room. My parents were like “What’s wrong?” and I said “I let you down”. They were like, “You did the best you could. What else do you want to do?” and I said “Well, I’ve always wanted to be an actor”. My Mom said to me “It’s in your heart so become an actor”. I then ended up graduating from a BFA program and have been a performer ever since.
Do you think South Asian youth have opportunities and good access to the arts in the city?
Theatre culture is changing. Look at comedians like Aziz Ansari or Mindy Kaling. Their backgrounds are very secondary to what they do. It is all about who they are. I love that. When you see a person their background shouldn’t matter. It is slowly happening. There are more actors in the city of South Asian descent now who are really passionate about their art. You have to be passionate about what you do to be the best. You have to exhaust all your resources. Then you can say to yourself “Well I’m not stopping myself”. You start clearly seeing where your avenues lie. If you are a South Asian kid and if you want to be a hockey player or a painter, the only thing that should matter is how badly you want it and then you have to put the work in to do it.
What are your future projects?
This is my first show. I don’t really know what people are going to think. I am just really happy that it is being performed. I am in heaven right now. I am excited to find out during the Fringe what people think of it. If it is a positive response then I would definitely want to take it across Canada and I would want everyone to see it. If I feel like it needs more work then I will go back and work on it. I would love to take it to the Edmonton Fringe or even to the UK. “Mrs Singh & Me” has been the centre of my life for the past year and a half. I also host a tableau show at Guilt & Co. every second Tuesday of the month. After the show is done I am going to look into my goals and decide what project to take on.
-Prachi Kamble
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