Where Is Here?: A CBC Radio Drama Anthology, Vol 1

Where is Here? is the first volume of two anthologies that are the result of a proposal call issued by CBC Radio’s Sunday Showcase for plays dealing with an immigration theme. The first six plays are: Raj Kumari’s Lullaby, by Rishma Dunlop, a play set in British Columbia and Quebec’s Eastern Townships that charts a Punjabi-Canadian woman’s coming of age; Crossing Gibraltar by Ehab Lotayef, a fascinating look at the life a man has lived by immigrating to Montreal, and the life he might have lived had he remained in Egypt; Wanderers, by Marco Micone and translated by Sheila Fischman, traces a teenage boy’s visit to his ancestral village in Italy where his questions arouse disturbing memories and questions for his grandfather; Joy Geen (See You Again), by John Ng, in which a Canadian family must decide whether or not to risk sheltering their Chinese God-sister who has entered the country illegally; Entry Denied by Sugith Varughese is a period drama about the attempt to prevent 376 Indian immigrants aboard the Komagata Maru from landing in Vancouver, 1914; and, Couscous, by Guillaume Vigneault and translated by Jon Van Burek, explores the decisions a single mother must make when engaging in a new relationship with her daughter’s soccer coach.