PlayME

Playwright and actor Pamela Mala Sinha joins Chris Tolley to talk about NEW, her play about a generation of South Asian immigrants who came of age in 1970s Winnipeg. Sinha shares how a box of old photographs and her mother's stories sparked the idea, and why she felt compelled to tell the story of a generation that built this country but has been largely skipped over in our cultural narrative. She talks about casting her own mother as cultural consultant, what it means to take notes from a parent, and the unexpected rehearsal room moment that unlocked the emotional truth of a key scene. She also reflects on writing trauma without centering it, the role of comedy in her work, and what she wishes she had known at the start of her writing life.

It's 1970 in Winnipeg, and a young Bengali bride has just arrived in Canada to marry a man she's never met. But the husband waiting for her is hiding a secret, and the tight-knit immigrant community she's stepping into is holding more than a few of its own. Three couples. A doctor with a double life. A marriage frozen by grief. Two students being pulled apart by the new world around them. And one unexpected arrival who refuses to behave the way anyone needs her to. Theatre critic Glenn Sumi calls New by Pamela Mala Sinha "specific in its details but universal in its themes" and one of the best new Canadian plays in years.

And if you're looking for more great plays to listen to, we highly recommend our PlayME recording of Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, adapted by Liisa Reppo-Martell, featuring some truly incredible performances, including actor Ali Kazmi, who plays Qasim in this production of New.

NEW features: Ali Kazmi, Lisa Ryder, Zorana Sadiq, Ellora Patnaik, Shelly Antony, Fuad Ahmed and Pamela Mala Sinha.

Two months after her arrival, Nuzha is beginning to understand that something is deeply wrong in her marriage. Qasim comes home late every night, and has never once reached for her. She arrived ready to build a life and instead finds herself waiting in a cold apartment in a city she doesn't know yet, wondering if she's about to be sent home. As she confides in the women around her, the close-knit community that welcomed her starts to reveal its own cracks. And Abby is still in the picture.

NEW features: Ali Kazmi, Lisa Ryder, Zorana Sadiq, Ellora Patnaik, Shelly Antony, Fuad Ahmed and Pamela Mala Sinha.

Two months after her arrival, Nuzha is beginning to understand that something is deeply wrong in her marriage. Qasim comes home late every night, and has never once reached for her. She arrived ready to build a life and instead finds herself waiting in a cold apartment in a city she doesn't know yet, wondering if she's about to be sent home. As she confides in the women around her, the close-knit community that welcomed her starts to reveal its own cracks. And Abby is still in the picture.

NEW features: Ali Kazmi, Lisa Ryder, Zorana Sadiq, Ellora Patnaik, Shelly Antony, Fuad Ahmed and Pamela Mala Sinha.

It's 1970 in Winnipeg, and a young Bengali bride has just arrived in Canada to marry a man she's never met. But the husband waiting for her is hiding a secret, and the tight-knit immigrant community she's stepping into is holding more than a few of its own. Three couples. A doctor with a double life. A marriage frozen by grief. Two students being pulled apart by the new world around them. And one unexpected arrival who refuses to behave the way anyone needs her to. Theatre critic Glenn Sumi calls New by Pamela Mala Sinha "specific in its details but universal in its themes" and one of the best new Canadian plays in years.

And if you're looking for more great plays to listen to, we highly recommend our PlayME recording of Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, adapted by Liisa Reppo-Martell, featuring some truly incredible performances, including actor Ali Kazmi, who plays Qasim in this production of New.

NEW features: Ali Kazmi, Lisa Ryder, Zorana Sadiq, Ellora Patnaik, Shelly Antony, Fuad Ahmed and Pamela Mala Sinha.