An immersive experience, Eraser delves into the memories and fantasies of a classroom of students as they figure out who they want to be. Six students guide readers through their different journeys, taking them along to the cafeteria, change rooms, and playground, to the places where they feel safest and the most brave, vulnerable, and afraid.
Afroze just moved to Canada from Pakistan and is struggling to fit in as a white-skinned gender-questioning convert to Islam. All Jihad wants is to be cool, but he struggles with the appearance of this new student who doesn't look like any of the Muslims he knows. Noah's brother just died, and he's been avoiding processing his grief, which makes him lash out at his best friend, Eli. Eli doesn't know how to support Noah, who he also harbours questioning feelings for. Whitney wants to live by her own rules in her own imaginary world, but she's forced to deal with annoying kids like Tara. Tara loves school and getting straight As, but all the pressure she feels eventually adds up and she crumbles.
Finding a balance between tough realities and honest fantasies, Eraser is an energetic and sentimental look at what it's like to navigate differences and connections as a kid.
• First presented as part of Why Not Theatre's Riser Project at Theatre Centre, Toronto, in May 2019.
• Eraser originates from a devised theatre course a few of the authors took together, inspired by conversations about the group's diverse upbringings.
• One of the authors, Bilal Baig, is the star and co-creator of the hit HBO/CBC series Sort Of.
NOAH: Jihad, tell her.
JIHAD: / What?
TARA: Guys I think she knows you're talking about her.
NOAH: Communicate in your language and tell her her food smells bad.
ELI: She obviously / knows.
JIHAD: We probably don't / speak the same language.
NOAH: (to ELI) I wasn't talking / to you, was I?
TARA: But Jihad you can speak Indian right?
WHITNEY: Um don't you mean Hindi?
TARA: Jihad, is the language spoken in India Indian or Hindi?
WHITNEY: / Why are you asking about India if she's from Pawk-i-stan?
NOAH: / Oh my god who cares Jihad just go talk to her.
JIHAD: / Why are you asking me?
TARA: Aren't you from there?
JIHAD: No I'm not, I'm from Michigan.
ELI: Man, stop lying.
NOAH: Jihad PLEASE.
WHITNEY: Yeah Jihad, could you talk to her?
JIHAD: Okay fine!
JIHAD goes to AFROZE.
AFROZE: Assalam'olaikum.
JIHAD: Walekum'assalam.
AFROZE: Tum Urdu bol saktey ho?
JIHAD: Urdu? Oh no, I speak English.
AFROZE: Arbi bol thay ho? Arabic?
JIHAD: What? Uh, look, I just want to let you know that sometimes, we eat in the hallways, we're allowed to do that here it's kinda cool, I can show you.
An immersive experience, Eraser delves into the memories and fantasies of a classroom of students as they figure out who they want to be. Six students guide readers through their different journeys, taking them along to the cafeteria, change rooms, and playground, to the places where they feel safest and the most brave, vulnerable, and afraid.
