Jivesh Parasram grew up in Dartmouth, where his white neighbours assumed he was Black—and his Black neighbours assumed he was Arab-Canadian. (Both camps struck out: He has Indian and Trinidadian roots.)
In a move Nora Ephron would no doubt have approved of, Parasram—a noted playwright and actor now based in Vancouver—turned this childhood rife with copy into a one-person play: Take d Milk, Nah? is a piece of theatre that’s wowed audiences and critics across the country, pulling rave reviews from NOW Magazine and The Globe and Mail.
Now, Parasram is finally bringing his story back to the place that inspired it as Take d Milk, Nah? starts on a tour of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by making its east coast debut at Alderney Landing Theatre on March 29. (Tickets are $20-$40 via Eastern Front Theatre's website, or pay-what-you-can by contacting Eastern Front by email.)
Funny and irreverent, Parasram’s show offers a candid take at race, religion and nationalism(s), asking what divides us and who is served by the constructs of cultural identity.
Seeing a show this buzzy—and meaty—on a random weeknight is the exact sort of fun I spent the pandemic missing. If you did, too, don’t miss out on this.
Take d Milk, Nah? east coast tour
Town: DartmouthWhen: March 29
Where: Eastern Front Theatre
Time: 7:30pm
Tickets: Available now, pay what you can afford ($20 suggested)
Town: Antigonish
When: March 31 and April 1
Where: Bauer Theatre
Time: 7:30pm
Tickets: Available now, starting at $20
Town: Sydney
When: April 5-8
Where: Highland Arts Theatre
Time: 7:30pm every day, 2pm matinee Saturday, April 8
Tickets: Available now, PWYC ($25 suggested)
Town: Fredericton, New Brunswick
When: April 13-15
Where: Open Space Theatre
Time: 7:30pm Thursday and Friday, 2pm Saturday
Tickets: Available now, starting at $5