Lata Pada's Revealed by Fire premiered in Toronto at Harbourfront Centre's
Premiere Dance Theatre on March 8, 2001, International Women's Day. Crossing
boundaries of genre, discipline and culture, this multimedia work was based
on the tragic loss of Pada's husband and both daughters aboard the Air
India jet that was bombed by terrorists in 1985 and inspired by her gradual
recovery and her rediscovery of the power of voice and identity: as an
individual, as a woman, as a member of both Indian and North American societies.
As a woman who is outside the South Asian community by ethnicity, being
a primary collaborator on Revealed by Fire was an extraordinary creative
opportunity for me. Being part of the process also afforded me, as a dramaturg
and a chronicler of contemporary theatre in Canada, the opportunity to
document the process of making the extremely complex work from a personal
perspective. I propose a presentation that highlights my process as dramaturg
and playwright, as well as discussing elements of Revealed by Fire.
05/26: 0915