Koli Kari
- Company
- Pink Banana Theatre
- Playwright
-
Ganesh Thava
- Runtime
- 50 minutes
To save his failing cooking show, Ravi is forced to reveal the secret recipe for his mouthwatering Koli Kari (Chicken Curry). But when the Chicken comes to life and conjures up the recipe's true creator, Ravi must confront someone he thought he’d never see again — his Amma. Magical, queer, and full of flavour, Koli Kari asks what is ours to share... and at what cost?
Starring a brilliant cast of South Asian artists, Koli Kari is a heartfelt, magical drama featuring a mystical chicken, onstage cooking, and a story about the things in our families we leave unsaid.
Credits
- Director
- Sungwon Cho
- Stage Manager
- Tanvi Vyas
- Cast
- Ganesh Thava, Asha Ponnachan, Anne Saverimuthu
- Producer
- Kay Wong
- Scenic Designer
- Madeleine Gagnon
- Mask Designer
- Alexandra Simpson
- Marketing Associate
- Kavinila Sritharan
More about the show experience
Latecomers will only be admitted into the theatre within the first 10 minutes of the performance.
Venue
1 : Tarragon Theatre Mainspace
30 Bridgman Ave
Toronto
Ontario
M5R 1X3
Access
- Level of Physical Access
- Accessible
Covid-19 policy
- Masks
- No
More about the show and company
Pink Banana Theatre is a new collective serving QTBIPOC stories in its most compelling, innovative theatrical forms. Founded by award-winning theatre artist Ganesh Thava in Fall 2023, its first production, Koli Kari, features live cooking, beautiful mask work and a heartfelt, emotional story that challenges the tropes of the “immigrant experience.” It is directed by Sungwon Cho, a Master’s candidate at the University of Toronto specializing in diaspora culture and food in theatre, whose work has received the Audience Choice Award for The House Key Project (2022) and a Dora Award nomination for Bone Cage (2023).
Content advice
Not recommended for persons under 14 years of age Audience participation Mature language
This show includes strong cooking aromas, with stovetop heating of cinnamon, chilies, and other masala spices, and scent diffusers releasing the same cooking aromas. It also contains coarse language and depictions of family conflict.
Audience participation details
The audience in the front row will be invited to eat small samples of a vegetarian curry and roti in their seats. Signs with a full list of ingredients and instructions of how to participate will be placed on the seats; if you would like to receive a sample, simply hold up your sign when our actor enters the audience towards the end of the show. You may decline to participate at any time by not holding up your sign or by verbally saying no.
Sensory description
There will be onstage cooking, with smells of cinnamon, chilies, and other masala spices. Lighting will shift between different states indicating different settings: a TV set, a home, and a surreal, dreamlike world. There will be recorded instrumental music and some amplified sound and sound effects.
