The Men in White is
a gem of a play that gets a terrific production at Factory Theatre.
It deals with the gamut of issues that face immigrants to Canada but
that is only a small part of what the play offers. It is funny, moving and
intelligent with a fine plot and well-developed characters. And at the end it delivers
a punch that stuns you.
The title is ironic. The men in white may wear white but they are not
white at all. They are mostly immigrants from India who play cricket in
Vancouver. That is one half of the play. The other half takes place in a
predominantly Muslim neighborhood of Mumbai (Bombay), India in a chicken
slaughterhouse.
Huse Madhavji, Tahirih Vejdani and Chanakya Mukherjee.
Photo: Joseph Michael Photography
The slaughterhouse is owned by Baba (Huse Madhavji), a crotchety, sarcastic
but fundamentally decent old man. Eighteen-year old Hasan (Chanakya Mukherjee)
is his only employee and he is in love with cricket and the pretty Haseena
(Tahirih Vejdani), the girl across the street.
Hasan’s brother Abdul is an illegal immigrant to Canada and wants him to
join the cricket team which is not doing very well. How do you bring a young
Muslim, an unknown cricket players with no money to Canada?
The interaction among the three characters in India are charming, hilarious
and moving. Mukherjee turns in the best performance as the awkward and nervous
suitor for Haseena. Mukherjee modulates
his voice, has hilarious body language right down to using his hands to
emphasize his clumsiness, utter awkwardness in dealing with Haseena and Baba,
and makes a loveable young man.
Vejdani as Haseena is bright, ambitious, pretty and a highly attractive
person who must compromise her principles in a corrupt society. Author Anosh
Irani pulls no punches about dishonesty in India.
The immigrants who make up the cricket team in Vancouver provide some
fascinating and recognizable types. Abdul (Gugun Deep Singh) works in a
restaurant and lives in a room at the back of it, in constant fear of being
caught. Canada is not the Promised Land for him. At the other end of the immigrant
spectrum is Doc (Cyrus Faird), a well-off Zoroastrian surgeon who hates Muslims
and considers himself “Canadian.” In other words he has become or wants to be
considered white despite the colour of his skin. His hatred of Muslims is based
on the fact that his son was killed by Hindus during a riot because they thought his son was Muslim.
Randy (Sugith Verughese), the captain of the team, tries to maintain order
and inspire the team to play well and hopes that Hasan will come and improve
their performance. He has a Chinese player named Sam (John Chou) who is pretty
useless and Ram (Farid Yazdani), a banker and finer cricket player.
Cyrus Faird, Farid Yazdani, John Chou, Sugith Verughese and Gugun Deep Singh.
Photo Joseph Michael Photography
Kudos to director Philip Akin for exceptional directorial work where he
does not miss a beat.
Irani looks at immigration to Canada from those that desperately want to
get a visa form a corrupt country, to immigrants who have indeed found the Promised
Land and to those who are here struggling to survive. But money and success do
not change one’s colour and the rest is reality in Canada.
The set and lighting design by Steve Lucas is quite simple. On one side
of the stage there is a cabinet with chickens representing the slaughterhouse.
On the other half of the stage, there is the locker room where all the action
involving the cricket team takes place.
Plays by and about immigrants done almost entirely by immigrants used to
be about as frequent as total eclipses of the sun but the situation is
changing. Ethnic groups that have tens and even hundreds of thousands of
immigrants are starting to be heard from.
Check the name and skin colour of the creative team and the people on
stage next time you go to the theatre. Start with the Artistic Directors of the
Stratford Festival, Factory Theatre and Canadian Stage. Now look for plays
written by immigrants or their offspring. The stage is changing, thank
goodness.
__________
The Men in White by Anosh Irani,
directed by Philip Akin, runs until November 4, 2018 at the Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario. www.factorytheatre.ca/
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