Gavan Cheema weaves an immigrant story of family, labour, and addiction in new Himmat
Blending Punjabi and English, actor-playwright draws on stories revealed to her at her father’s hospital bed
Munish Sharma and Gavan Cheema in Himmat. Photo by Wendy D Photography
Theatre Conspiracy presents Himmat at the Cultch from May 6 to 15
THEATRE ARTIST Gavan Cheema’s father has been telling her stories every since she was a little girl, but she had never heard the ones he recalled as she sat by his bedside at Surrey Memorial Hospital in 2017.
“I’ve never spent that much time with him,” she recalls of those long days when he was getting cancer treatment. The actor-writer is speaking to Stir on a break from rehearsals for Himmat—her first full-length play, which grew out of those conversations. “It was a lot of one-on-one time with him in a way that I'd never experienced before. And then you also add in morphine and pain and the fear of dying, and all of a sudden he’s like, ‘I need to tell my kids everything.’”
The stories traced her father’s early struggles as a new immigrant in Canada, coming here as a labourer. Like so many first-generation parents, he had long shielded his children from what he went through.
“You're here starting fresh and you definitely want to protect your kids from the hardships you went through,” Cheema reflects. “One thing that definitely resonates for immigrants, regardless of where they come from, is immigrant parents really love secrets.”
Those stories planted a seed with the theatre artist, who would develop them—with embellishments—over the following years into the new play.
“I’ve definitely given myself some permission to take liberty with the memories because they're all so complicated,” reflects Cheema, who’s been bringing the play to fruition while serving as artistic director at Theatre Conspiracy. “People also remember things in very different ways. So over the years, I’ve also been talking to my mom and other people about the family history that I didn't necessarily know so much about….I would definitely say the script is inspired by, but not necessarily defined by, my dad’s memories.”
That includes the way the play, told through flashbacks from a father and daughter talking in the hospital, grapples with addiction. Cheema says her own father quit drinking a long time ago, when she was five.
Some of the first stories he told her back in the hospital revolved around his early job here roofing. It was the first time he felt part of a community here, but it came with its challenges.
“For a lot of working-class immigrant men, who basically came here to do cheap labour—whether it was logging or roofing or now my dad’s a truck driver—a lot of their identity has been shaped by their work,” Cheema says. “But also it’s been a lot of physical work, which comes with a whole lot of other issues that we don't necessarily talk about in our community—and the show tries to unpack a little bit of that, too. If you're working at physical labour, it takes a toll on your body. And a lot of substance abuse comes with that; it’s pretty rampant because the work is really hard.”
Cheema, who also acts in Himmat “going deep” in a role that draws directly on her own past, seeks to humanize that addiction and build empathy. “The story is really rooted in redemption and healing and relationships, and how these bonds can grow over time—despite the circumstances,” she says.
In another fresh approach that adds to the show’s authenticity, she’s worked closely with director Paneet Singh to present it in both Punjabi and English—with projected imagery to guide English- or Punjabi-speaking-only audiences through the narrative.
Cheema says using both languages was aimed at honouring what the characters would have spoken at each point in their lives. “For example, the parents in flashbacks speak mostly Punjabi with broken English,” she explains. It’s been a learning process for her, as well as fellow cast members Munish Sharma and Veenu Sandhu, who all learned various levels of Punjabi or Hindi growing up.
The language elements, along with the subject matter, come together to create the kind of story we don’t often see onstage.
Gavan Cheema and Munish Sharma. Photo by Wendy D
“When I first started working in this industry, shows for a South Asian woman were really about being ‘Brown’ and being South Asian,” Cheema relates. “So this story is kind of a breath of fresh air, because it's just a family. Yes, they're Punjabi and they speak different languages in the show, but they're just there and existing in the show as they are.
“You see that a lot of the issues they’re working through as a family are pretty cross-cultural, in a sense of anybody who has immigrated here and done any kind of physical labour can relate to them,” Cheema continues. “Theatre really has the power to force people to empathize—especially now, when we’re in this weird world where we’re so polarized.”
It’s important to note here that amid all the work building the show, there’s been constant feedback from a very important person: Cheema’s father, who is, fortunately, now in remission.
“I’ve made sure to include him in the entire process—he came to all the workshops,” Cheema says. “There’s nothing that’s gonna surprise him.
“My dad is a storyteller himself,” she adds, “but he really hasn't had a platform–it's only been his friends. So now I’m giving him that platform.”
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