Newcomers living in Montreal’s Parc-Extension are sharing India’s anti-colonial history through a night of Punjabi-language theatre.
The cast is entirely made up of recent immigrants from Punjab, India and members of Montreal’s Immigrant Workers Centre.
On Saturday they’re putting on a powerful night of theatre with a performance of “Ram Mohammad Singh Azad: The Spirit of Freedom.”
“This play is about history, I love, culture, I love, and art, my passion. So I’m so, so very excited,” said Supanpreet Kaur, who narrates the play.
“This story has to be told.”
On Thursday they rehearsed for their production, which brings to life the legacy of Shaheed Udham Singh, one of the most iconic figures in India’s anti-colonial history.
“It’s about all the Punjabi who are living across the country,” said Gaurav Sharma, the play’s co-director. “So to know about their history, know about their culture, know about the people who sacrifice to give them, give you other independence so you are living here because they sacrifice.”
The play follows the journey of Udham Singh, played by Gurdeep Khinda, who survived the tragic Jallianwala Bagh massacre, where British troops killed over 1,500 peaceful protesters.
Twenty-one years later, Singh assassinated Michael O’Dwyer, the colonial official responsible for the massacre.
“The story is very inspirational because its life uses a message, because people who sacrifice their life so we could enjoy the freedom,” Khinda said.
Along with liberation, the play highlights key topics like immigration struggles, rising rents and housing insecurity
“The legacy of this one particular freedom fighter, but who was also part of the Ghadar Party,” said Amy Darwish, the co-coordinator of Comité D’action de Parc-Extension (C.A.P.E.). “And the Ghadar party not only fought for liberation from colonialism in India, but also organized in the diaspora around questions of migrant justice and worker rights, and many of the things that they fought for back then are just as relevant today.”
“I think we’re all aware of how difficult things are internationally, but also locally,” added Peter Burton, the executive director of Arts in the Margins. “And I think that in order to respond to that as a city, we need strong community ties, which means different communities in the city need to be talking to each other.”
The performers say they’ve been preparing and rehearsing for months, hoping to give Montrealers a glimpse of Indian culture through song and dance.
“This play also depicts that anyone who’s living… it’s a international human rights that you have standards, standard rights mean to say: living, freedom eating, education and job.”
The play is being put on at La Sala Rossa on Saturday night.
“All the Montrealers come together is a multicultural country, multicultural city come together,” said Khinda. “Watch. Come on the date. Buy the ticket. Come everybody together. Give a message. We are together. It doesn’t matter any situation. We are together.”
