Choti Choti Batain is a story that takes place in Brampton. It was inspired by the playwrights’ own experiences with the patriarchy in South Asian/Punjabi culture and the sacrifices immigrant families must make to survive. As the death of their father brings a Brampton family to their knees, the mother of the household attempts to divorce her dead husband to find freedom again.
A love letter to South Asian mothers
For one day only, Pleiades Theatre, in partnership with Red Beti Theatre, SAWITRI Theatre and the Punjabi Arts Association, presents Choti Choti Batain, a Special Feature reading at Red Beti Theatre’s Decolonise Your Ears New Play Festival on Saturday, October 21, 2023. Written by Sanskruti Marathe and Davinder Malhi, and directed by Ash Knight, the cast includes Kirandeep Kaur Kahlon, Neha Modgil, Sanskruti Marathe, Davinder Malhi, Anuradha Grover-Tejpal, Kavita Taluja, Jasleen Kaur and Jagvinder Judge.
What does resilience look like for South Asian women? How do Punjabi families relate to the idea of “home”? How can we find compassion for our families, while also challenging them to expand their beliefs?
— questions the playwrights asked themselves when writing this play
About Pleiades Theatre
Pleiades Theatre’s mission is to redefine what it means to be “Canadian” by sharing stories from first- and second-generation Canadians with each other, Tkaronto (Toronto) and the world. Their mandate is to encourage first- and second-generation storytellers, particularly artists of colour, but through intersectionality also Deaf artists, artists with disabilities, artists living with mental illness, New Gen artists, 2SLBTQIAP artists, and Indigenous artists.
About Red Beti Theatre
Red Beti Theatre (RBT) is the only not-for-profit Indigenous, Black and People of Colour (IBPOC) Theatre company in Hamilton, ON. RBT commissions and presents live performances created and written by IBPOC women in order to contribute bold and relevant artistic voices to the Canadian theatre landscape.
About the Decolonise Your Ears New Play Festival
Hosted by Red Beti Theatre, 2023 marks the third annual Decolonise Your Ears New Play Festival. Decolonising theatre means expressing culturally specific ideas, mythologies, music, dance; IBPOC bodies occupying space in celebration of their unique identities, and subverting rigid hierarchies in favour of a more equitable approach. It means brown and black bodies having time to explore their voices, develop their practices and explore lesser-known cultural forms without having to negotiate, conform or squeeze into parameters that they did not choose.
(Photo credits: Pleiades Theatre.)
Event details
Hosted by: Pleiades Theatre, in a co-production with Red Beti Theatre, SAWITRI Theatre, and the Punjabi Arts Association
Type of event: staged play reading
Written by: Sanskruti Marathe and Davinder Malhi, with dramaturgy by Sarena Parmar
Director: Ash Knight, with cultural consultant Sarabjeet Arora
Cast: Kirandeep Kaur Kahlon, Neha Modgil, Aditi Sheoran (workshop only), Sanskruti Marathe (reading), Navjot Singh (workshop only), Davinder Malhi (reading), Anuradha Grover-Tejpal, Kavita Taluja, Jasleen Kaur and Jagvinder Judge
Date: Saturday, October 21, 2023
Start time: 3:30 PM ET
Duration: TBA
Cost: Pay-what-you-can: C$5.00, $10.00 or $15.00 (plus a small service fee)
Location: Theatre Aquarius, 190 King William Street, Hamilton, ON, L8R 1A8, Canada
Booking link: Book your tickets here
Contact Details: Pleiades Theatre, info@pleiadestheatre.org, (416) 203-1227, pleiadestheatre.org; or Red Beti Theatre; info@redbetitheatre.org, redbetitheatre.org
Accessibility: Theatre Aquarius accessibility info here.
Refund policy: Please contact the organizer.