Our performances on May 3 and 4 at UBC were preceded on May 3 by a scholarly and creative symposium “Performing the Post-colonial: The political work of theatre,” 2 p.m.-6 p.m., St. John’s College.

The event featured a panel discussion by the playwrights of the plays included in the performance: Sadhu Binning and Sukhwant Hundal (who co-authored one of the Punjabi plays), Ajmer Rode, and Sharon Pollock, who created the English-language play. Binning, Hundal, and Rode are all members of greater Vancouver’s dynamic Punjabi literary community; it was Pollock’s first opportunity to meet with them.

Four Playwrights in Conversation: Sukhwant Hundal, Sadhu Binning, Ajmer Rode, and Sharon Pollock

The symposium also featured talks by:

– Rahul Varma (playwright and founder of Teesri Duniya or “Third World” Theatre),

– Nandi Bhatia (University of Western Ontario),

– filmmaker and York University Professor Ali Kazimi, with

– key-note address by Rana Nayar Professor of English at Panjab University, Chandigarh and well-known translator of modern Punjabi literature.

“Performing the post colonial,” photos by Oliver Mann:

Co-sponsored by St. John’s College and supported by a UBC Hampton grant and the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies International Research Scholar program.