Crossover Stories: Showcasing contemporary issues through theatre

Mehar Ahmad

It indeed was an unforgettable theatre experience on Saturday 17 February watching the full house-packed first session of Crossover Stories, a series of five contemporary original plays, held at the Bankstown Arts Centre.

Crossover Stories are distinctly Australian in English language but with a South Asian/ Indian context, written by Avijit Sarkar and were developed by five directors and performed by 27 actors of diverse backgrounds.

The producer of Crossover Stories is Taufeeq Ahmed Sheik, an award-winning writer, filmmaker and radio broadcaster who had the ability to bring together 44 cast and crew members with a diversity of backgrounds, ethnicity, language, faith and no faith, together in order to enact these unique stories for all to enjoy and take lessons.

The five short plays deal with taboo subjects rarely touched upon in South Asian countries and even in South Asian diaspora communities in the West but are indeed stories that we all encounter in our daily lives.

The plays with adult themes display contradictions in community life created by differences of religion, domestic violence, homosexuality, class and cast prejudices, racism and the migrant experience.

For instance, the first play shows a strong friendship between a Hindu and a Muslim family who enjoy each other’s company, cuisine, song and music but are reluctant for their children to develop relationships outside of their religion.

Issues of white supremacist racism and traditional religious prejudices is dealt with in another play showcasing shifting alliances between different cohorts targeting subgroups.

The stories expose broken relationships in marriages, extramarital affairs, homosexual and bisexual issues and adjustments of migrants and their new generation growing up in Multicultural Australia dealing with contemporary issues.

Mehar Ahmad based in Sydney is a Public School Teacher and President of Seena Inc, Publishers of the Australasian Muslim Times AMUST.