LOTUS

A creative adaptation of Deepa Mehta’s Water by Ms. Michalenko & Mr. Montalbetti

Set in India against the backdrop of Mahatma Gandhi’s rise to power, LOTUS follows the life of a young girl Chulia, a child-bride, who is abandoned at a widow’s ashram. There she is forced to live out a life of penitence until death.

Unwilling to accept her fate, Chulia becomes a catalyst for change in the lives of the widows. When her friend and confident, the beautiful Chendra falls in love with a young, upper class Gandhian idealist, the forbidden love boldly defies Hindu tradition and threatens to undermine the delicate balance of power within the social caste system of India.

LOTUS offers an examination of the lives of widows and Indian culture in colonial but ultimately a lyrical story of love, faith and redemption. The flower Lotus is symbolic of spiritual attainment and the flowering of human potential. We invite you to this poetic drama full of the colour, music, and dance of traditional India. The sun and the moon will take you on a complex journey into the transformative power of love.

CAST
Chuylia - Heather Press
Roopa - Amanda Kapronczai
Maneesh - Andrew Suchar
Mehta - Nicole Zalesak
Radha - Larissa Houghton
Suraiya - Ashley Kelly
Padma - Saher Mastoor
Chendra - Audra Balion
Devyani - Megan Elizabeth
Nyla - Trin Smetaniuk
Sumatra - Michelle Backstrom
Napun - Perry J. Hodge
Lalita - Karyn Kostiuk
Groom - Mitchell Foy
Dina - Kyla Poss
Older Woman - Tia Boddy
Maneck - Brian Tamosiunis
Ishvar - Talib Sadat
Gandhi - Dalen Bellamy
Priest - Rylan Ledene
Dancers - Akyla Bardick, Marian Bangura, Sam Geti, Breanna Helgeson, Kelly LaRocque, Sadaf Mastoor, Jeremy Roach, Aika Suzuki, Cheyenne Thomas
Backstage - Jason Tamosiunis, Angela Brown, Andrew Fiddler, Jade Henderson
Light & Sound - Darcy Schroeder, Alex Dumais, Jesse Suchar,Austin Bloomfield, Graham Webster, Zandir Eidness Hodges

Assistant Director - Sadaf Mastoor
Supervisors - Ms. Christina Michalenko, Mr. Raymon Montalbetti, Mrs. Pat Chubb, Mrs. April Loran, Mrs. Pauline Marlatte, Mr. Bob Turner, Ms. Laurianne Gabruch, Mr. Gary Vrinten

Special thanks to the entire Mastoor family for all of their help and Mr. Tamosiunis.

A deep and heartfelt thanks to those near and far who have inspired our journey LOTUS. Namaste.