Identity search is revealing drama
October 10, 2009
What would Gandhi do?
Mahatma Gandhi, that is.
The renowned civil rights leader, whose name is synonymous with peace, died 61 years ago. But Gandhi's spirit is at the heart of a theatre production about a Canadian teenager searching for what director Pierre Tétrault calls a "healthy identity."
I've only seen a rehearsal, but the play, which opens Tuesday, is a powerful reminder that prosperous industrialized nations still marginalize far too many young people and their families.
In a place where poverty, racism and abuse fester amid privilege, Gandhi High should resonate with everyone who believes those who are different deserve to be treasured, not shunned.
This week, Canada's quality of life was ranked fourth-highest in the world by the United Nations. But for Jehan Sachi, lead character in the play, this country and the city of Toronto are unforgiving and confusing.
Troubled by feelings he doesn't understand, Sachi is diagnosed as bipolar. He falls in with a group of young people who try to exorcize their demons by means of theft and violence. Through mood swings and frustrations, he wrestles with past and present, but it is only after his father dies that something begins to change.
Drawn to an image of Gandhi, Sachi comes to believe that the most effective way to protest against poverty, racism and abuse is through non-violence, love and forgiveness. Determined to make a difference, he goes on a hunger strike, pressing authorities to change the name of his school to Gandhi High.
He is determined to make something of the washout he fears his life has been up to this point. But, as his girlfriend tries to explain to his distraught mother, while many thoughts may be driving him crazy, he is not crazy. It's the world that's crazy.
Director Tétrault, who wrote the play along with Jeremy Wright, Neil Ross and Doris Rajan, is no stranger to the world of mental illness and struggle. His National Film Board documentary This Beggar's Description is an amazing exploration of schizophrenia through the eyes of his brother Phil, who travels the streets of Montreal playing the pan pipes and writing poetry.
Tétrault's film The `R' Word, produced this year for Omni TV, documents in their own words the pain of those who have been labelled "Retard."
As a journey into cultural and intergenerational conflicts, youth violence and mental health issues, Gandhi High continues this tradition. But this one was particularly tough to work on. "(It) loosely based on the personal experiences of one of my best friends who committed suicide for some of the same reasons depicted in the play," Tétrault says.
Gandhi High stars Shawn Ahmed, Sabryn Rock, Antonio Cayonne, Kevin Walker, Rajan and veteran actor Sam Moses, whose credits include the Stratford production of Rice Boy, the films Ghostbusters and Adventures in Babysitting and such television shows as This Is Wonderland and Due South.
Gandhi High received some funding from the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council and the Canadian Council of the Arts. It also got in-kind support from the theatre production department at Humber College and Workmen Arts, a not-for-profit company working in partnership with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
To help with the remainder of funding, two round-trip tickets to India and $500 in cash are being raffled off. For more details, see gandhihigh.ca, call Brian Eastcott at 416-399-0595 or email
brian.eastcott@rogers.com.
The play runs Oct. 13 to 25 at the Joseph Workman Theatre, 1001 Queen St. W., in the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Tickets are $13.
In a column about the Parenting with a Disability Network, a project of the Centre For Independent Living in Toronto, I gave an incorrect phone number. You may contact coordinator Nancy Barry at 416-599-2458, ext. 227, or check cilt.ca for more information.
helenhenderson@sympatico.ca
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