The Komagata Maru Incident
by Sharon Pollock

Published by Playwrights Canada Press Toronto

"Sharon Pollock: Collected Works Volume 1" orders@playwrightscanada.com
PDF Manuscript copy available on request HC_Pollock@shaw.ca

 Number of Acts: 1
 Length: 75 mins
 Total actors required: 5
 Men: 2
 Women: 3

Synopsis:
May 1914, Canadian newspapers proclaim the arrival of a boatload of Indian immigrants in Vancouver Harbour. Passengers are refused permission to land despite right of entry to Canada guaranteed by India’s membership in the British Empire. For two months it’s a funfair on the docks while those aboard suffer as supplies including food and water are denied. T.S. Master of Ceremonies creates a Carnival Circus to reveal and revel in the political, legal, and racist skirmishes in courts, parliament, and the street. His sideshow skills come into play as he manipulates and maneuvers Immigration Officer William Hopkinson charged with carrying out government strategy, Evy, Madam of Hopkinson’s brothel home base, Sophie, a lazy but ambitious prostitute, Georg, a recent immigrant eager to get ahead, and a Sikh woman and child, the only woman among 376 men on the Komagata Maru.