Teesri Duniya began as a South Asian theatre company (1981). Today it is one of the few theatre companies in Canada, and the only one in Quebec, where artists of every culture, color, language and background work together. Today, in both its creative work and administration, the company promotes a multicultural-multiracial vision of Canada. Our creations are outward looking and weave together elements of different cultures. We believe this to be the best way to drive the creative process, ensure our artistic development, and build and maintain our relationship with the country’s general arts movement.

In the early eighties, the company produced plays in Hindi dealing with issues affecting the lives of South Asian immigrants in Quebec (Julus, Ek the Gadha, Bhanumati ka Pitara, Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani, Ahsaas and Darwaze Khol Do). Then, in 1985, the company began producing English-language productions with plays such as The Great Celestial Cow, Job Stealer, Isolated Incident, Equal Wages, Land Where the Trees Talk, No Man’s Land and Divided We Stand. This marked the beginning of a radical new approach to engaging with present realities—an approach that analyzed not only the social conditions in which immigrant communities presently live, but also the social and cultural factors and interactions that affect these diverse communities. The result is a theatre that focuses on minority issues, builds solidarity among minorities, and promotes an increasing interaction and dialogue across cultures.

In the early nineties, we received our first arts funding grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. With it came a string of cutting-edge avant-garde plays (Counter Offence, Reading Hebron, Bhopal, Noah’s Arc 747, Ali & Ali And The Axis of Evil, Ms. Oriented).

Counter Offence, our first funded project, was Mirror critic Gaëtan Charlebois’s top pick of the 10 best plays of the decade. In 1999, we produced L’Affaire Farhadi, a French translation of Counter Offence, earning the distinction of being the first culturally diverse company to produce a French-language play. The Gazette declared: “L’Affaire Farhadi could be the vanguard of the revolution in French-language theatre.” The company produces a range of plays reflecting diverse cultures, perspectives, themes, and aesthetics. These are united by our common concern with issues of social justice, cultural relevance, and artistic quality. Every one of our plays presents a distinctly Canadian voice. We are proud to have produced works in English, French, Hindi, and Tamil, and we look forward to expanding our linguistic repertoire in the future.

From the beginning, we have sought to broaden our linguistic and cultural reach and scope, collaborating with like-minded companies across Canada, including, among others, Théâtre Sortie de Secours, Cahoots Theatre Projects, neworldtheatre and Black Theatre Workshop.

For example, Bhopal, has been produced in French, English and Hindi in both Canada and India. In fact, as far as we know, it is the first Quebec/Canadian play to have been professionally produced in India. We are a professional theatre company with roots extending to an increasing number of minority communities in Canada—this is where we draw our sustenance.

In 2007, Teesri Duniya broke new ground with two original productions in one year including the controversial play, My Name is Rachel Corrie. A co-production with neworldtheatre of Vancouver, Teesri committed to this play prior to any other theatre company in Canada.

As part of the three year cycle of “Staging Peace in times of War”, the world premiere of the latest play by Rahul Varma, Truth and Treason, is presented at Monument National. Long term plans include the translation of this play into French and being produced in 2010-2011 season and an international tour beginning in India in 2011.

Today, Teesri Duniya, which began as primarily a South Asian group, is an all-inclusive organization whose membership, artists and dramatis personae come from a wide range of ethnic and racial backgrounds, including the dominant cultures, thus sending a clear message that the real and ideal face of Canada and Quebec is multiethnic, multiracial and multilingual. We are formally committed to multiethnic, as opposed to colour-blind, casting and stories.