Pyaasa

Set in Calcutta, India, Pyaasa explores issues surrounding the caste system, a discriminatory form of social stratification into which every Hindu is born. At the bottom of this hierarchy are the Untouchables, a group seen as sub-human by members of the Hindu caste system.

Winner of two 2008 Dora Mavor Moore Awards in the Independent Theatre Division (Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Performance by a Female), Pyaasa tells the story, with subtlety and nuanced truth, of an eleven-year-old Untouchable girl named Chaya. When Chaya’s mother begs a woman from a higher caste to give Chaya a job at a local tea stall, Chaya’s journey from “childhood” to “adulthood” begins — a journey that occurs in ten days.