Calgary native brings solo show about anti-brown racism to off-Broadway

In August 2012, a white supremacist gunned down six people at a Sikh place of worship in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

Calgary native and flourishing storyteller Sundeep Morrison, who uses the pronouns they and them, took notice of the violence in that gurdwara, seeing connections between their own lived experience as the child of Punjabi Sikhs and the violence against Sikhs in the United States since Sept. 11. Their solo show about this very issue, “Rag Head,” opens off-Broadway at the end of this month.

Morrison describes themselves as a “queer, non-binary, Punjabi Sikh artist and activist” who uses their storytelling as a vehicle for activism. “Rag Head” is deeply personal for them, an odyssey through xenophobia and personal history in dialogue with the rise in anti-brown racism since the Sept. 11 attacks.

“The tragedy in Oak Creek hit so close to home and our community,” said Morrison in an interview. “‘Rag Head’ was borne of me processing my feelings of anger and sadness, and really this fear of my parents not being safe in their place of worship.

“Being a Canadian expat out here in the States, I’ve seen this rise of xenophobia firsthand. And it’s felt very scary at times,” they said.

“My dad still owns a convenience store. He welcomes everybody, all his patrons, even those who have come in with hate in their hearts and said insensitive things to him. He’s still going to welcome them with kindness.

“That’s something I struggled with as a teenager. I thought, ‘Why are we being so nice to bigots?’ But it goes back to our Punjabi Sikh faith. If we meet hate with hate, then what’s the difference between us and them?”

Morrison was born in Calgary then moved to Etobicoke as a child. Their parents later moved to Wisconsin and, as a young adult, they studied at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City.

That early childhood time in Calgary was deeply formative to Morrison’s artistic practice, they said.

“When you grow up in that kind of Prairie town and experience hate at a very young age, you might not know the word for it … that shapes you. My Canadian upbringing is very near and dear to my heart … And I think one thing that’s so beautiful about Canada is that we’re this diverse tapestry. There’s hate everywhere but, from a multicultural standpoint, we always felt more at home in Canada.”

In the show, Morrison plays seven characters, all based on real-life family and friends, including two central characters inspired by Morrison’s parents. The events of the play are an echo of the 2012 incident in Wisconsin — the tragedy’s legacy is itself a character in the performance.

Morrison’s parents have now lived in rural Wisconsin for more than 20 years, and their experience embedding into American culture and society constitutes much of “Rag Head’s” content.

“There was this need for immigrants to prove their American-ness. We almost became hyper-patriotic … My parents had American flag stickers in their place of business,” they said.

The 2016 presidential election of Donald Trump also shaped “Rag Head,” serving as yet another reminder of the enduring racism of the United States, according to Morrison.

“When your leader aligns with hate, then where do you go from there? When you look at the reporting, there was such an increase in hate crimes. And we saw the country kind of take this terrifying direction. It felt like what was uttered behind our backs was now at our doorsteps and also in the White House. And so it was a really a divisive time.

“For us personally, it really made me worry again, about my parents’ safety and my own as a queer, non-binary, South Asian person.”

While “Rag Head” is slated for only a short run in New York City, Morrison would desperately like to bring the performance to Canada — its themes are just as relevant up here, they said.

“It would be such an honour. We’re in talks of bringing it to Toronto and possibly Calgary. That community shaped me, and I want to share this work with my community and my fellow Canadians at large.”