By James Karas
The Komagata Maru Incident
is a punch in the face to Canada’s white supremacist past. It is a well-timed
and fully deserved punch and we should all bow our heads in shame that such a
racist incident was allowed to happen. Fortunately, things have changed in the
past century.
In 1914 a Japanese ship carrying
376 Punjabis of whom 346 were Sikhs arrived in Vancouver Harbour. The
passengers were British subjects and some of them had in fact fought in the
British army and all were legally entitled to come to Canada. They were kept in
the harbor for weeks and finally the ship was chased way by a warship.
Sharon Pollock has written a
dramatic version of the incident that contains much factual information about
the incident without being a documentary. It is a piece of theatre relying mostly
on the imagination of Pollock.
Members of the company in The Komagata Maru
Incident.
Photography by Cylla von Tiedemann
The play and the production
deliver the punch of the ugly incident but there are issues with the play and
Keira Loughran’s direction. The play is about Sikhs but there is not a single turban
to be seen. There is a Sikh mother who is simply called Woman, (Kiran Ahluwlia) who speaks from the prow of the
ship and sings some hauntingly beautiful and plaintive songs but never interacts
with any of the other characters of the play. Some people may consider a play
about Sikhs with only a token Sikh character a weakness and I would agree with
them.
Much of the play takes place in a
brothel run by Evy (Diana Tso) who has William Hopkinson (Omar Alex Khan), the
immigration officer and chief villain of the play, as a regular client. Georg
(Tyrone Savage) is a German friend, a tool of Hopkinson as well as a customer
of the brothel, availing himself of the services of Sophie (Jasmine Chen).
There is a character called T.S.,
a man played by Quelemia Sparrow, who appears wearing a native costume which
he, the character, takes off and puts on a top hat and a red coat and becomes a
master of ceremonies of what could be a circus. We see him frequently and he
comments on the action, expresses public opinion and addresses parliament.
Quelemia Sparrow as T.S. and Omar Alex Khan
as William Hopkinson in The Komagata Maru Incident. Photography by Cylla von
Tiedemann.
Sparrow is a marvelous actor who
shows flair, energy and superb acting in the role. For some reason Loughran
thinks that T.S. should never stand still. Sparrow dances almost all the time
while speaking and the practice becomes unnecessary and annoying. A superb
performance marred. The meaning in change from indigenous costume to circus
master and back to indigenous at the end escaped me.
Loughran sees nothing wrong with
two things happening at the same time on the stage. While Ahluwalia is singing,
other characters carry on as if nothing is happening behind them. We want to
hear both the song and the dialogue.
The Studio is a small theatre
with the audience sitting on three sides of the auditorium. Loughran lets the actors
stand right in front of the middle section of seats address them as if the
other two sides don’t exist. They could just as easily stand near the back and
be seen and heard by all sides of the audience.
Georg is a German who wants to be
of service to Hopkinson and looks forward to business opportunities when World
War I is declared. So much for giving Germans a bad a review but Savage could
use a decent German accent. Khan is just as bad in that department. Interestingly,
he is from a Yorkshire father who served in Pakistan and whose mother was brown
and he ended up in Canada.
Tso as Evy and Chen as Sophia are
spunky, fearless, no-nonsense prostitutes and we are on their side.
Presenting the shameful Komagata
Maru incident on stage does Stratford great credit and it is unfortunate that
there are a few shortcomings in the play and in the production. But the
necessary punch is delivered.
__________________
The
Komagata Maru Incident by Sharon Pollock continues
in repertory until September 24, 2017 at the Studio Theatre. 34 George Street, Stratford,
Ontario. www.stratfordfestival.ca
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