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Rasik Arts is not responsible for the quality of listed productions - Write what you think in the comments!

Toronto - TAJ - June 10, 11, 12th

Sampradaya Dance Creations presents TAJ, an exciting new dance-theatre production chronicling the human drama behind the magnificent architectural wonder, the Taj Mahal. TAJ runs June 10-12 at Harbourfront Centre's Fleck Dance Theatre as part of, and commissioned by, Luminato, Toronto Festival of Arts and Creativity. TAJ explores the saga behind the Taj Mahal through dramatic scenes starring international Bollywood film, television and theatre star Kabir Bedi and Canadian actress Lisa Ray, and through exquisite kathak dance choreographed by South Asian kathak legend Padmabhusan Kumudini Lakhia, performed by an ensemble of dancers from Toronto, the U.K. and India: Tushar Bhatt, Reshmi Chetram, Parul Gupta, Meghranjani Hirani, Atri Nundy, Karan Pangali, Hemant Panwar, Samyuktha Sharath, Chad Walasek and Sashar ZarifPerformances are Friday at 8PM, Saturday at 2PM & 8PM, Sunday at 2PM.
Tickets: $51.50 - $71.50 Box Office416-368-4849 or online at luminato.com. Info: sampradaya.ca

Brampton - Paul & Priya's Wedding - June 17th

Fenulla Jiwani's latest venture is an interactive dinner theatre production where the audience are the members of a wedding party. Taking place at Pearson Convention Centre, 2638 Steeles Ave., Brampton. For more info see their FB page - P&P's wedding

Toronto - The Post Office - May 7th to June 4th

Pleiades Theatre presents Rabindranath Tagore's play The Post Office at Can Stage's Berkley St. Theatre from May 7, 2011 to June 4, 2011. With choreography by Hari Krishnan, the cast includes: Mina James, Sugith Varughese, Patricia Marceau, Sam Moses, Dylan Scott-Smith, Errol Sitahal, Jennifer Villaverde. For more information go to Pleiades Theatre website.

Rasik Arts Roundtable - April 14, 2011 - Tagore

This April 14th we're celebrating Tagore's birthday by reading his play "The Post Office" translated by Krishna Dutta & Andrew Robinson.
A "roundtable" is an open, informal gathering to read a script out loud and discuss it. There is no admission charge. All are welcome to participate. Rasik's reading starts at 6pm in the program room of the Wychwood Public Library, 1431 Bathurst St. (one block south of St. Clair Avenue West, on the east side of Bathurst St. - close to all TTC modes).Admission is Free. Tea/coffee - and birthday cake! provided as well. Check it out on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=133484763390001

Toronto - Brothel #9 - Feb 26 thru March 27


Anusree Roy and Pamela Sinha in the world premiere of Anusree Roy’s Brothel #9 , playing February 26 – March 27, 2011 at Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst St.. Featuring Ash Knight, Anusree Roy, Pamela Sinha, and Sanjay Talwar, Brothel #9 is the story of Rekha, a young South Asian woman who travels from her village to Calcutta to take a job making light bulbs only to discover she has been sold to a brothel. (Photo by Jeremy Mimnagh) For more details visit: Brothel #9.  For tickets call the Factory Theatre box office, 416-504-9971, Tuesday to Saturday, 1 – 8 p.m., and Sunday at 12 noon – 4 p.m.; online sales are available 24 hours a day at www.factorytheatre.ca
Due to its subject matter, Brothel #9 is not recommended for audiences under the age of 14 years.

Rasik Arts Roundtable series - March 3

A "roundtable" is an open, informal gathering to read a script out loud and discuss it. All are welcome to participate. On March 3rd we'll be reading "The Domestic Crusaders" by Wajahat Ali. Its a two-act comedy about three generations of a Muslim family living in America. To quote one reviewer: "Consider `The Domestic Crusaders' an introduction to a new American Muslim cool -- sharp and ironic, funny and deep, running intellectual circles around the idiotic platitudes of bigotry."  American Theatre magazine just had an article about the play in its February edition - read here - American Theatre- 'Short Story Long'
Rasik's reading starts at 6pm in the program room of the Wychwood Public Library, 1431 Bathurst St. (one block south of St. Clair Avenue West, on the east side of Bathurst St. - close to all TTC modes).Admission is Free. Tea/coffee provided as well. Check out the event on Facebook: "Domestic Crusaders" Roundtable

Brampton - one night only - Naseeruddin Shah - February 24

Why Not Theatre & Brampton's Rose Theatre host legendary stage and screen star, Naseeruddin Shah, in 'Ismat Apa Ke Naam' - a play based on three short stories by the famous Urdu writer, Ismat Khanum Chughtai (1915-1991) whose provocative body of work astounded and shocked her contemporaries. The plays are directed by 4 time Filmfare award winner Naseeruddin Shah and performed by him as well as his wife and daughter,  renowned actresses Ratna Pathak Shah and Heeba Shah. 'Mughal Bachcha' told by Ratna Pathak Shah talks about the 'landed gentry' of Uttar Pradesh in the time of the British Raj, interweaving wry and perceptive social commentary with a love story of epic proportions. 'Chhui Muee' told by Heeba Shah, an account of child birth in a train compartment, becomes a hymn of praise to the courage, power and integrity of the rural woman. 'Gharwali' told by Shah himself, a satire on the social mores of the times (1940s), is uncannily accurate in its observations on the nature of the man-woman equation. The performances are in Hindi/Urdu with English subtitles.
For more information on the Rose Theatre & for tickets: Rose Theatre Brampton
Performance is SOLD OUT - but you can be put on a waiting list by calling the theatre at 905 874 2800

Toronto - Divisadero: a Performance - Feb 8-20

Michael Ondaatje collaborates with Necessary Angel's Daniel Brooks to adapt his novel Divisadero – a violent and passionate story exploring themes of memory, identity, love and the grip of the past on the present. It's happening at Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Avenue February 8-20. A Saturday matinee on 2pm on Saturday February 19th has been added. To quote one critic: "Michael Ondaatje's novel has been adapted for the stage -- there it is, or bits of it, up there -- but it hasn't been dramatized. The result is not, in any traditional sense, a play. But it is a performance, quite an impressive one, and it's also a set of performances: some of them excellent and one of them exceptional." For tickets you can call 416-504-7529 or go to http://www.necessaryangel.com/divisadero. 
for a story in the National Post: http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/02/07/divisadero-adapting-for-the-stage/

Toronto - new Play Reading - "The Washing Machine" - Feb 18


The Washing Machine by Radha S Menon receives a reading as part of Nightwood Theatre's Groundswell Festival of new works by Women from 7:30-10:30 on Friday, February 18 at the Nightwood Studio (Studio 315) in the Distillery District - 55 Mill St., The Cannery. An Anglo-Indian woman returns to the coconut plantation of her childhood and desperately tries to wash away her past and dissolve a shameful secret that stains her existence. In the cast are:  Allegra Fulton, Paulino Nunes, Ronica Sajnani, Aparajit Bhattacharjee, Asha Vijayasingham, Steven Cumyn. Ishwar Mooljee, and Doris Rajan. Directed by: Sasha Kovacs

Roundtables with Rasik Arts - Feb 3, 2011

A "roundtable" is an open, informal meeting to read through a script and discuss it. Anyone may participate The only pre-requisites are curiosity and a thirst for theatre. On Feburary 3rd RASIK ARTS offers a work-in-progress by Toronto screenwriter, actor and director, SUGITH VARUGHESE. “THE FATE OF MEWA SINGH” portrays two hopeful immigrants in their different voyages to Canada, one in 1906 & the other on the Komagata Maru in 1914, and intertwines their story with that of a British immigration officer, creating a compelling, human tapestry of the desire and the price of 'belonging'. Grounded in the historical detail of the Komagata Maru and epic in sweep, there are many parts to be read.

Starts at 6pm in the program room of the Wychwood Public Library, 1431 Bathurst St. (one block south of St. Clair Avenue West, on the east side of Bathurst St. - close to all TTC modes).
Thursday, February 3 - "The Fate of Mewa Singh" by Sugith Varughese
Wychwood Public Library, 6pm-8:15pm, 1431 Bathurst St., Toronto, Ontario
All welcome. Admission is Free.
Upcoming Roundtables: in March "The Domestic Crusaders" by Wajahat Ali; in April "The Post Office" by Rabindranath Tagore