-Momo Quazi
A very successful show of the drama “In the Sundry Languages” blew Toronto-audience’s minds last June. The play was produced by the Toronto Laboratory Theatre and directed by Artistic Director Art Bee. It was supported by the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
This experimental drama has been on stages in Canada for the past 20 years. As the title suggests, the uses of different languages is the significance of this play but we are very proud to let you know that for the very first time, Bengali language and Bangladeshi actor Riaz Mahmood was involved.
More than 200 languages populate in this very city of Toronto every day. A well mixture of culture as well as languages make our country colorful by the day. The drama showcases in a very artistic and innovative way- how hard it is to cope for a newcomer, his understanding of the new language, the learning of English, the struggle of starting a new life etc.
The simplest way to express your mind is through word-of-mouth. But at the same time, we express a lot of our thoughts through our body language. The audience were stunned when the struggle of a simple everyday occurrence like going to buy coffee could be that hard. The gestures and the shadow play were emphasized by their eruption on the small television screen.
From the acting side, I must congratulate our own Riaz Mahmood and among others, Ahmed Manekar’s sublime performance was phenomenal. The show was held on 28th June, 2019. The upcoming show of this amazing play is going to be on August 16 at 7pm at the Fairview Theatre.
