Generous Friend
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.
From October 2-21, 2018, a Toronto collective of performing artists, will be in residence, in a Mongolian yurt, located in the inner courtyard of the museum. These interdisciplinary artists will be making performances of Noor, a new play written by Erum Khan, directed by Erin Brubacher, with original music by the electronic music duo LAL and sitarist Anwar Khurshid.
From October 2-12, museum visitors are invited to experience ‘open rehearsals' and witness performance making in process. When the artists are not working in the yurt, there will be traces of the work in progress as well as film and music made by contributing artists, including documentary film, Banjaare ka ghar (A Nomad's Home); new music by LAL.
Following the durational two-week long performance, through which visitors can come and go freely, there will be nine full length ticketed performances, from October 13-21.
Noor is about a family in Toronto in 2018. Noor, a young woman embarking on adulthood, faces the absence of her mother, Mumina, and looks for shelter in a relationship with another young woman, Aubrey. Noor’s father Bashir struggles to establish a relationship with his daughter. Each character navigates an inner violence of identity, belonging, and displacement, while engaging with Rumi and the untraceable path of his muse, Shams Tabriz. Noor offers Rumi and Shams as counterpoints to contemporary inertia in an urban Canadian context. Performances will feature sung and spoken recitations of Rumi and Parveen Shakir.
NOOR COLLABORATORS:
set design __ Kaitlin Hickey
sound design __ Nicholas Murray
stage management __ Jennifer Lee
About Erum: Erum Khan is a film and theatre-maker from Mississauga, Ontario. Current and recent projects include: Assistant Director for Acha Bacha (Theatre Passe Muraille/ Buddies); performer/ assistant director for Concord Floral (BRUBACHER/SPOONER/
Generous Friend is supported by The Toronto Arts Council, The Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. Noor is part of the National Arts Centre's The Collaborations. Thanks to Nightswimming who supported Noor through the OAC Theatre Creators Reserve and to Theatre Tarragon who supported the early development of this work.
