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7:30 pm
Double Bill: Anita Majumdar and Tony Nardi
Victoria University Chapel
Fish Eyes
Originally Directed & Dramaturged by Gregory Prest
Written & Performed by Anita Majumdar
Fish Eyes was first conceived from a conversation with a boy named “Marc” on a “#160 Vancouver”
bus traveling through Coquitlam, BC and a 12 hour car ride between the Taj Mahal & Lucknow. It
premiered in January 2004 as a 12 minute version and after going through several performances that
year, emerged as a 53 minute work for the Harbourfront Centre Studio Theatre for the HATCH: Emerging
Artists’ Project. Additional readings and performances followed in 2005 and 2006, including repeat
appearances at the Masala! Mehndi! Masti! Festival.
Fish Eyes is the story of Meena, an exceptional Indian dancing teenager who would trade it all in just
to be a “normal” high school girl and be the arm candy of her high school crush, a white boy named
“Buddy”. Luckily Kalyani Aunty (her spunky, pro-India dance teacher) is still around to remind Meena the
importance of embracing her origins and her talents through Bollywood absurdity and laughter. Catch the
show that celebrates the joys of heritage and heartaches of youth.
Website: http://www.fish-eyes.com/Home.html
Anita Majumdar (see p.10)
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Two Letters
Written & Performed by Tony Nardi
Two Letters is based on two actual letters sent to “middle-men” of the Canadian cultural scene: a film/
television producer and two theatre critics. Letter One articulates an actor/writer’s struggle with cultural
stereotypes in Canadian theatre/film/tv.
Two incidents in Fall 2005 provoked the writing of two (actual) letters. The offensive-to-Italians material in a TV script (Rent A Goalie), and a set of equally offensive reviews of a theatrical production (The
Amourous Servant, a “commedia dell’arte” play by Carlo Goldoni) left actor/writer Tony Nardi with this:
How can otherwise intelligent, opened-minded and
skilled screenwriters reflect (define) a slice of the
Canadian mosaic in this way? How can otherwise
intelligent, opened-minded and skilled critics,
belonging to ‘ethnic’ communities, and writing for
Canada’s two largest English-language newspapers, reflect & define a centuries-old theatrical
tradition in this way?
(The reviews of The Amourous Servant were – in a
sense - more offensive than the theatre production; their capacity to perpetuate misconceptions,
falsehoods and theatrical stereotypes was far
greater - more people read papers than attend
theatre.)
Nardi copied the letters to friends in theatre and
film (from different cultural backgrounds). Equally
distressed, these friends encouraged him to publish the letters, to not let them die. Nardi decided
to go public: not in print … but ‘on stage’.
Nardi offers a riveting reading of his Letter One
for Playing in the Streets, inviting his audience to
actively engage in questions about theatre, identity,
and public voice in 21st Century Canada.
No stage
No setting
No costumes
No theatrical lighting. No lights up, no lights down.
Not at the beginning, not at the end.
No soundscape
No special effects
No director
No Stage Manager
No Makeup
No character
No curtain call
After the presentation... a chat.
Website: http://www.twoletters.ca/history.html
Tony Nardi (see p.11)
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