EVENT: My Granny the Goldfish (Factory Theatre, March 17-April 15)

WHAT’S SO FUNNY ABOUT CANADA, RACISM, ALCOHOLISM AND HYPOCHONDRIA? LOTS, ACCORDING TO PLAYWRIGHT/NOVELIST ANOSH IRANI

TORONTO, ON…  “We are pleased to present the Toronto premiere of My Granny the Goldfish, the hilarious and warm-hearted comedy by award-winning Vancouver playwright/novelist Anosh Irani, to Toronto audiences March 17 - April 15, 2012,” says Factory Theatre Artistic Director Ken Gass, “Canadians love to laugh at ourselves and this irreverent play set in Vancouver and Bombay about three dysfunctional generations of a family, is a great opportunity to laugh out loud, while also joyfully dealing with issues of life and death, racism and intolerance as well as, ultimately, forgiveness and acceptance.”

In My Granny the Goldfish, Granny travels from Bombay to visit her beloved 25 year-old grandson Nico who is in hospital in Vancouver.  Her “cure alls” are attitudes, platitudes and a full flask of whiskey. Despite Nico’s neurotic and hysterical protests, Granny helps him truly heal – ultimately proving that laughter is the best medicine (http://www.factorytheatre.ca/concrete/concrete/index.php/season-and-subscription/my-granny-the-goldfish/).

Internationally-known singer and film, TV and stage actor Yolande Bavan (Sri Lanka, Europe, USA) stars as the title character “Granny” with Kawa Ada (Canada, USA) in the lead male role as her idealist grandson “Nico.”  Playing Nico’s parents are Sanjay Talwar (Canada) as “Dara” and Veena Sood (Canada, UK, USA), reprising the Arts Club Theatre Company premiere (Vancouver, 2010) role of “Farzeen.”

Factory Theatre Associate Artist Rosemary Dunsmore directs the company of theatre artists assembled forMy Granny the Goldfish, which includes Set and Lighting Designer John Thompson, Costume DesignerRobin Fisher, Sound Designer Reza Jacobs, Dramaturge Iris Turcott, Assistant Director Jessica Glanfield, Assistant Set Designer Anna Treusch, Assistant Costume Designer Allie Marshall, Stage Manager Shauna Japp and Apprentice Stage Manager Sam Aylsworth.

The opening night is Thursday, March 22, 8 p.m., with the playwright in attendance. On Friday, March 23, 7 p.m. (before the 8 p.m. show), Anosh Irani will also be at Factory Theatre to participate in a special discussion regarding the similarities and differences of writing plays versus novels. Anosh Irani was born and brought up in Bombay, India and moved to Vancouver in 1998. He is the author of the acclaimed novels The Cripple and His Talismans and The Song of Kahunsha, which was a finalist for CBC Radio's Canada Reads and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, was published in thirteen countries, and was a bestseller in Canada, China and Italy. His play Bombay Black was a Dora Award winner for Outstanding New Play. Irani was nominated for the Governor General’s Award for Drama for his anthology The Bombay Plays: The Matka King & Bombay Black. His latest novel, Dahanu Road, was longlisted for the 2010 Man Asian Literary Prize.  Irani first presented My Granny the Goldfish in Factory Theatre’s Cross Currents Festival in 2009, and has reworked the script for the Factory Theatre production.

My Granny the Goldfish plays Tuesday – Thursday, 8 p.m. ($30), Friday, 8 p.m. ($35), Saturday, 8 p.m. ($40), and Sunday, 2 p.m. (PWYC or $30 in advance). The preview on Sunday, March 18, is at 7 p.m. $20 preview performances are March 17 – 18 and 20 – 21. RUSH, student, senior, arts worker and group rates are available. My Granny the Goldfish is 115 minutes long, including a brief intermission. For general-seating tickets, call the box office at (416) 504-9971 or visit in person during box office hours at 125 Bathurst Street, Toronto, or go online 24/7 at www.factorytheatre.ca.

The radio sponsor of My Granny the Goldfish is The New Classical 96.3FM. Follow updates at Factory Theatre’s page at http://www.facebook.com/groups/2249250605/, as well as contests and other promotions online at Twitter @factorytheatre. Following Granny, Factory Theatre’s 2011/12 season, sponsored by BMO FinancialGroup, continues with Performance Spring: Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland’s production of Oil and Water byRobert Chafe, April 18 - May 6, and Itai Erdal’s How to Disappear Completely, May 8 – 13, produced by The Chop Theatre of Vancouver.