All is not so Black in Bombay

"… a play that proves the strength of love over hatred and the power of dreams over the desire for revenge." - The Hindu

"Sensuous, lyrical, mysterious, sordid, grotesque, romantic and highly emblematic." - The Globe and Mail

Despair, deceit, revenge…and Love conquers all in acclaimed drama "Bombay Black" by Indo-Canadian novelist and playwright Anosh Irani

Cahoots Theatre Projects is proud to present the Dora Award winning and Governor General's Literary Award nominated Bombay Black, a riveting sensual drama by acclaimed Indo-Canadian playwright and novelist Anosh Irani, at the RBC Theatre in Mississauga's Living Arts Centre. The tale of seduction, betrayal, revenge and where love, against all odds, prevails; opens on Friday, February 8, 2008 at 8 p.m. and runs until February 10, 2008. Directed by Brian Quirt, Bombay Black's South Asian cast features the acting talents of Deena Aziz, Anita Majumdar and Sanjay Talwar. A pre-show chat, with complimentary appetizers, will be held 45-minutes prior to curtain for all ticket holders.

Bombay Black is a love story between a blind man and a dancer. Set in a seaside flat in present-day Mumbai, Padma (Aziz) sells the privilege of watching her daughter Apsara (Majumdar) dance to local wealthy and famous male patrons. Apsara's extraordinary beauty and mesmerizing dance intoxicate her devotees and masks an underlying simmering resentment. The bitterness boils over when blind Kamal (Talwar) comes to "see" Aspara dance. His perplexing arrival at the seaside flat alters lives forever.

A critical and award winning Canadian work, Bombay Black is at times lyrical and funny or chillingly brutal. Though he presents the audience with some disturbingly dark and fantastical images, Irani seamlessly weaves realism with elements of myth, mysticism and magic and conjures a poignantly romantic vision. Through this amorous reverie, he takes his characters (and consequently, the audience) on an incredible flight of the imagination.

Brian Quirt's directing credits include Nightswimming's Rough House, Factory Theatre's Through the Eyes, receiving Dora nominations for both, and Pierre Brault's Portrait of an Unidentified Man at the National Arts Centre.

Irani's prose comes to life through the performances of an accomplished South Asian cast featuring Deena Aziz, Anita Majumdar and Sanjay Talwar. Deena Aziz has been working in theatre for sixteen years; her credits include Rice Boy (Canadian Stage), House of Sacred Cows (Northern Light) and SOS: Meat and Make Mary (Teatro Comaneci). Anita Majumdar has performed her critically acclaimed self-written/self-performed solo show Fish Eyes across Canada and internationally. Her theatre credits include Bloom (Modern Times Stage Theatre), Bombay Black (Cahoots Theatre Projects) and Tales from Ovid (Centaur Theatre). Her film credits include Murder Unveiled (Force Four Entertainment). Sanjay Talwar was Artistic Director of Shakespeare in the Rough and directed their production of The Merchant of Venice in 2005. His acting credits include Indian Ink (Canadian Stage), Rice Boy (Canadian Stage), Rosencrantz in Hamlet (Soulpepper Theatre Company), two productions of Helen's Necklace at Toronto's Tarragon Theatre and Vancouver's Pi Theatre; and Orsino in Twelfth Night (Stratford Shakespeare Festival). Irani's fantastical apparition materializes on stage through the inspired designs of a brilliant design team: Dora Award-winning set design and costumes by Camellia Koo, lighting designed by Dora Award winner Rebecca Picherack, Dora Award-winning music composition and sound design by Suba Sankaran, choreography by Nova Bhattacharya and stage managed by Tanya Greve.

Born in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), novelist and playwright Anosh Irani has resided in Vancouver since 1998. Author of the critically acclaimed novel The Cripple and His Talismans, Irani's first play, The Matka King, premiered in 2003 at Vancouver's Arts Club Theatre Company. In 2006, Irani's Bombay Black received a Dora Mavor Moore Award for 'Outstanding New Play' and his second novel, The Song of Kahunsha, was released by Doubleday Canada. In September 2007, Bombay Black made its Indian premiere in Mumbai to critical praise. Following the stage successes in Toronto and Mumbai, Irani's The Bombay Plays: the Matka King & Bombay Black was nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award in Drama in October 2007.

Cahoots Theatre Projects is dedicated to the creation, development and production of new Canadian plays that reflect Canada's cultural diversity.

Attached images: Anita Majumdar as Apsara in Bombay Black and playwright Anosh Irani. Photo Credits: Paula Wilson (Anita Majumdar) and Tushna Shroff (Anosh Irani).

For information on tickets, performance dates and times, please visit http://cahoots.ca/bombay_black/

This event is proudly sponsored by