SPOTLIGHT

I AM A POLITE CANADIAN, BUT I’M NOT SAYING SORRY

Goldy Notay is a British-Canadian film, television and stage actress. She’s returning to Toronto with the world tour of Mahabharata after a successful run in Perth, Australia.

By GOLDY NOTAY

I was born in India but my baptisms by fire were in the UK and Canada. I have a penchant for all things Italian which includes my hubby and doggy Luna (my greatest obsession).

In fact, she even came on tour with me when I did Life of Pi. My hubby and I own an Italian dog-friendly restaurant in Primrose Hill.

I grew up in Stratford Ontario. My younger years were filled with trepidation as my family experienced horrible racism. We had stones thrown through our windows and our neighbour even tried to burn our house down. I was too young to provide emotional support for my parents who lived through nightmares.

When I was 16, unbeknownst to my parents, I enrolled in a summer drama camp. It was my first foray into drama escapism. An odd choice considering I was awkwardly shy. A bit of a misfit really.

At 18, I auditioned for drama school in Toronto and out of 700 participants I was offered a place in a class of 22. My parents weren’t pleased with this pathway, in fact my mother didn’t speak to me for several months – a silent protest of sorts. But she came to see a performance of Blood Wedding in drama school and was incredibly moved. So I think they had the realization that their daughter was having a metamorphosis.

Drama school itself was a contentious space as I experienced racist remarks from colleagues who were meant to be allies. This bad behaviour was allowed to proliferate. I felt like an unsightly loose thread in the fabric of this institution and I found myself apologising for it.

Retrospectively I think how on earth could anyone have flourished in soil that was riddled with pesticides?

After drama school I moved to the UK because I felt impoverished as an artiste. In order to be skilled at something, one needs practice. Actress Viola Davis once said, “The only thing that separates women of colour from anyone else is opportunity”. It was the first time someone had profoundly encapsulated my feelings in one sentence.

Toronto was a different place then. My relationship with it was like ill-fitting shoes. This was before the Me Too Movement and Black Lives Matter. Whilst London wasn’t paradise, it had an infrastructure and “bird feed” that Toronto lacked.

My big break came when I was cast as the lead in Gurinder Chadha’s film It’s a Wonderful Afterlife for which I gained 28 pounds. Some career highlights have been working with Mira Nair in My Own Country, Sex in the City 2, Eastenders, Beecham House, a summer at the National Theatre London and an invitation to the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company).

Recently, I was in the world tour of Life of Pi. I played Amma, Pi’s stoic mother. The pinnacle of Pi was performing in Toronto at the Mirvish Theatre which was next door to the Elgin Theatre where I worked as an usher to pay for drama school. It was an absolute pinch-me moment.

Life of Pi closed in Mumbai at the Nita Ambani Centre after a whopping 376 performances!

We were theatrical athletes!

I’m returning to Toronto with the world tour of Mahabharata after a successful run in Perth, Australia. We’ll be at the prestigious Canadian Stage Company (which is a dream come true for me), followed by the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The play finishes in New York.

Mahabharata runs April 8-27 at Bluma Appel Theatre in Toronto.

Mahabharata is a project I’ve been involved with for seven years with the Toronto-based Why Not Theatre. It’s directed by the theatre alchemist Ravi Jain. The process started with several workshops that culminated into the six-hour epic that everyone on the planet should see.

Mahabharata, the longest poem ever written, was composed 4000 years ago – a warning, perhaps, to humanity of the horrendous consequences of war. Sadly, it’s still as relevant today. It predates Shakespeare and Jesus and I’m continuously fascinated by it.

Returning to Toronto is a heart opening highlight. I feel that the city has diversified, and well...grown up. Just like me. The shoes now fit. In fact, Canada itself is having a personal evolution – a renaissance of sorts. The country is being cornered into accepting conditions it isn’t comfortable with. To be divisive, to relinquish ties with alliances and to dismantle its value system, and I’m relishing seeing the response.

Canadians are linking arms, and being introspective about what makes them Canadian. An evaluation of their self worth. Without the “sorry”.

When my parents and other immigrants in this country had stones thrown through their windows by fear mongers, they banded together with their communities. Many of those same families, now with their offspring form the colourful tapestry of this country. I am proudly part of that patchwork, loose threads and all! This time, unapologetically.

I’m a polite Canadian, but I’m not saying sorry.

The internationally celebrated Mahabharata reimagines one of the world’s greatest stories for contemporary audiences.

When and where:

April 8-27 at Bluma Appel Theatre, Toronto. Tickets start at $49. Call 416-368-3110 or visit boxofficecanadianstage.com.