Congratulations to Jivesh Parasram, with his project Bramha Brahman Bandar: Eternal Cosomological Adventures of the Hindooos!
We are excited to announce the 2026 Joyce Lam Award recipient: Jivesh Parasram, with his project Bramha Brahman Bandar: Eternal Cosomological Adventures of the Hindooos! Created in honour of vAct’s founder, Joyce Lam, this award intends to support the work of a mid-career/senior Asian Canadian writer with a $5,000 cash prize.
Jiv is a Canadian born multidisciplinary artist of Indo-Caribbean descent (Trinidad & Tobago / Kairi). Jiv grew up in Mi’kma’ki around Kijpuktuk (Halifax, NS), and spent over a decade in T’karonto (Toronto) working throughout the Independent theatre sector in various capacities, including the Associate Artistic Producer for Theatre Passe Muraille.
Jiv is a two-time recipient of the “Harold Award” for contributions to the Independent Theatre community in Toronto, and the Ken MacDougall Award for direction. He was also honoured with the Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award. He is also a founding member of the acclaimed socio-political theatre collective “Pandemic Theatre” with which he has accrued many honours including several Dora Mavor More and Jessie Richardson Award nominations and wins, and a Herald Angel from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
In 2018, after many visits, Jiv relocated to East Vancouver on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations to take on the position of Artistic Director for Rumble Theatre. In addition to his work with Rumble, he is also a freelance artist working most regularly as a director, dramaturge, and writer.
As a playwright he has been published with Playwrights Canada Press, and Sirocco Drama. Notably, his solo show Take d Milk, Nah? was nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award. Recent writing projects include: SWIM (Pandemic/Theatre Conspiracy); EVP: Beauty and the Beast, EVP: Robinhood (with Christine Quintana; Theatre Replacement/The Cultch), The Only Good Indian (Pandemic/Theatre Projects Manitoba).
Bramha Brahman Bandar: Eternal Cosomological Adventures of the Hindooos is an interdisciplinary project drawing on elements of Theatre, Opera, and Music created in collaboration with Anju Singh and Asitha Tenekoon.
The project emerged rather by accident. Vancouver Opera was producing Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers and they quite rightly identified that this part of the Orientalist cannon had a problematic – if unsurprising – Orientalist gaze in its depiction of “hindoos’ (a colonial term generically describing all the people of the “Indian” subcontinent). VO recognized there wasn’t much they could do to address the inherent ignorance of the libretto – so instead they asked us to put together a cultural evening to help ‘carbon-offset’ the racism so to speak.
Then, three days prior to performing, Queen Elizabeth II died. Sitting in a rehearsal hall, we watched the country mourn our symbolic head of state; the matriarch of a family that oversaw countless genocides and mass displacements – and we felt a bit conflicted. Genuinely conflicted. Because despite everything the British did to our families – all of our moms still really liked the Queen… so what’s that about?
“BBB” is a satirical exploration of the long-lasting impacts of Colonialism and the undercurrent ideologies therein. It responds to the recent 300% rise in reported hate crimes against South Asians in Canada which parallels the growth of white supremacist organizing and calls for ‘re-migration.’ Now approaching its final form, drawing on ancient puranic texts, seminal post-colonial literature, and scatological immaturity, the piece puts forward what the most generous of audiences have described as ‘an exorcism of colonialism.’
Joyce Lam founded Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre (vAct) in 2001. She was compelled to create a space that centered and celebrated the voices of those deeply embedded in the fabric of Vancouver yet were underrepresented and underserved in the city’s arts and culture scene. Deeply proud of her Chinese heritage, Joyce was driven to dispel misconceptions and change the narrative of what it meant to be Asian Canadian. During her 15-year tenure as Artistic Director of vAct, Joyce oversaw 45 productions. She put her whole heart into building a community where Asian Canadian actors, writers, creatives, and theatre-goers could stand tall in their authenticity and feel a sense of belonging.
Writing was one of Joyce’s many passions and the Lam and Wong families are proud to establish this award in her name in hopes it can play some small part in the legacy Joyce leaves behind, to inspire and support Asian Canadians in the performing and creative arts. Joyce managed lifelong health conditions, but never allowed them to slow her down. She didn’t waste a single day and dedicated much of her time to her friends and family. Joyce is forever cherished and fiercely loved by her family. She is lovingly remembered for her tenacity, steadfast loyalty, witty sense of humour, boundless generosity, and insatiable love for having fun.
If you would like to make a contribution towards the Joyce Lam Award Fund, you can do so at this link. Thank you!
