Created in partnership between PWM, Tarragon Theatre, Modern Times Stage Company, and independent theatre artist Makram Ayache, The MENASA Initiative aims to bring about sectoral change in theatre for and with artists from Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian (MENASA) communities, on and offstage.
In the Summer of 2023, PWM (Fatma Sarah Elkashef & Leila Ghaemi) began discussions with Tarragon Theatre (Mike Payette & Heather Caplap), Modern Times Stage Company (Rouvan Silogix), and independent theatre artist Makram Ayache about how to build community and increase visibility for Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian artists in a long-term and sustainable way. It was decided that the first step would be to hold facilitated consultations with MENASA artists in Montreal and Toronto in Spring of 2024, and share an essay reflecting on the experience with the theatre community.
These meetings focused on MENASA representation (or lack thereof), the term “MENASA” itself, the artists’ professional experiences and relationships within the theatre community including with arts organizations, and their hopes for the future of Canadian Theatre.
The conversations, reflections, and questions were framed in an essay written by Makram Ayache, titled: All We Are and All We Could Be.
“In some ways, the term MENASA orients the entire conversation. Who is included? On what basis? Who is excluded? Why? The Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian lands are massive – the cultures are pluralistic, the ethnicities and races are far ranging, the languages just as vast… So, how does this vast and multivariable community come together under one limited umbrella? In what context? Can we?”- Makram Ayache
Thank you to all of the artists that took part in these initial conversations, and for sharing your voices with us.
These consultations in Montreal and Toronto were the first step of a larger exchange. The second step is to expand the conversation to other cities across Canada with creators and arts organizations in order to grow the network of MENASA artists and plan for concrete steps towards change in theatre and the arts.
Read the full essay: All We Are and All We Could Be
Our partners:
THE MENASA INITIATIVE was made possible through the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
