Elephant Song poster/production photo | Kush Shah | Gaumukhi poster/production photo

Perhaps his work resonates so strongly with me because it feels in conversation with my hazy yet richly textured memories of India, having visited in my early twenties, offering intimate insight into a place I experienced only—though quite intensely—as a guest. This was three decades ago now, but the two-month experience left its mark. So, too, have these thoughtful and vivid theatre pieces.

Allow me to introduce you to Kush Shah, an artist whose lyrical and meditative work I’m deeply invested in. A recent graduate of York University’s BFA film production program, currently working on his MFA in Screenwriting, he has written and directed two consecutive Toronto Fringe productions that were, for me, highlights of each festival. Mumbai (Bombay), a fraught urban space for which he harbours both affection and disdain, looms large in these poetic episodes of self-discovery. Continue Reading