Generous Friend is a collaboration between Erum Khan and Erin Brubacher. 

In our work together we seek to create worlds that reflect the current and fluid social, political, and cultural landscape in Canada. 

Our inaugural project is Noor, a play written by Erum and directed by Erin.

Noor is about the navigation of identities here and now. 17 year old Noor encounters her own sexuality and Islamic faith through a contemporary examination of 13th century poet, Rumi and his muse, Shams. As she navigates the end of adolescence, she faces the absence of her mother, paralyzed communication with her father, and fraught intimacy with her closest friend. Noor's mother, Mumina drifts through time and unknown spaces, as each present character confronts an inner violence of belonging, and displacement. The fifth character in the piece is music: Noor and her friend Aubrey’s relationship is punctuated with contemporary music while Noor's father, Bashir, plays the classical sitar, in concert with the characters’ recitations of Rumi’s poetry.

Collaborators for Noor include:
Anwar Khurshid, LAL, Kaitlin Hickey, Farrah Khan, Madi Baines and Liz Peterson. 

About Erum
Erum is a 23-year-old film and theatre-maker from Mississauga, Ontario. She was an original collaborator for Concord Floral (BRUBACHER/SPOONER/TANNAHILL) having performed in its earliest workshop in 2012 and originated the role of Nearly Wild in the world premiere at The Theatre Centre in 2014. Since then, Erum transitioned from role of performer to Assistant Director for the 2016 presentation of Concord Floral at Canadian Stage as well as the 2017 presentation at the PuSh International Performance Festival in Vancouver. Her first documentary film, Banjaare ka ghar (A Nomad’s Home), premiered at the 2016 Toronto Independent Film Festival. Erum is one of four artists part of the 2017-18 Emerging Creators Unit at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. 

About Erin 

Noor is part of the National Arts Centre's The Collaborations