“Some people find their home far from home, and some do not,” says playwright and director Bir Btaalvi of the inspiration behind his play Sikligar. Part of this year’s Monsoon Festival of Performing Arts, Btaalvi’s Punjabi play will be staged at the Surrey Arts Centre Studio Theatre on Aug. 9.

“The play is about freedom,” the director says. “It inspires me to break the walls, break the prisons around me, break the cage.”

On the move

Sikligar follows the inner dialogue of Akash, a Punjabi immigrant, as he grapples with the challenges of migration. Through his dreams, Akash converses with Gurbaksh, a caged bird, who becomes a metaphor of his immigration journey.

“The bird is trying to fly in a natural environment, but society puts a rope around the neck of the bird and pulls it towards a tree which has money on it,” Btaalvi explains, drawing parallels with many immigrants’ hopes for financial security.

In Akash’s dream, Society itself also appears as a personified character, one that wears many masks. This character of “Society” pressures both the protagonist and his avian companion to let go of their desires and pursue conventional paths.

“Society says ‘if you stay in this iron cage, you will be safe and one day you will transfer to a golden cage,’” the director adds. “The only thing Akash and the bird wanted was to fly, but the whole system is designed in such a way that they are pressured and put into [cages].”

For Btaalvi, this theme is deeply personal, resonating with his own experiences as well as those of his friends. The idea for Sikligar originated while he was helping a friend move—an experience that reminded him of the Sikligar community in India. The Sikligars are a group of people constantly on the move in search of work.

“[My friend] moved from another city to a basement here in Surrey, and then he moved from there to another basement within a span of one or two months,” Btaalvi recalls. “We are a type of Sikligar; we are just moving for work.”

The upcoming production will also involve performance of a poem written by a Punjabi poet. The poem portrays how Sikligars have “no country” and “no home.” Like the character of Society, Punjab is also personified in Btaalvi’s play.

“Punjab is feeling pain, the pain of how a son left a father,” the director adds. “Punjab is saying [to Akash], ‘you were part of that system, you could have done something to change the system.’”

Exploring Punjabi theatre

Sikligar premiered at The Cultch’s Cultural Lab in 2024, just as Btaalvi finished his first year of theatre studies at Douglas College. Without many resources, including a rehearsal space, his team prepared for the premiere in Bear Creek Park.

“We took energy from nature…I always tell my friend that the space where we rehearsed is like we are in nature’s lap,” the director recalls. “It makes me feel like nothing can stop us from creating art.”

The director recognizes the play “as growing”: the upcoming performance includes new songs and characters. It will also feature Prince Goswami playing the personified Society and Punjab as well as Akash’s father and landlord. The other remaining characters—Akash and Gurbaksh—will be played by Btaalvi.

“The people who came to watch [Sikligar at The Cultch] were surprised,” the director recalls of his first time staging a production. “They felt that Punjabi theatre here in Canada is growing.”

According to Btaalvi, a key aspect of Punjabi theatre is addressing societal issues in a thought-provoking way. He hopes to recreate this same purpose in his works.

“Punjabi Theatre is also associated with Natya Shastra, a book [on drama] which is thousands of years old,” the director adds. “It’s divine, it’s spiritual, and artists devote themselves to theatre.”

Btaalvi has also received training in Sanskrit theatre’s rasa theory, which sees performers transferring “juice” or sentiments to the audience. Sikligar is just the beginning of his journey into the local arts scene—one that will highlight Punjabi voices.

“It’s very personal, this journey, and every time I read this play [or] rehearse this play, it inspires me,” Btaalvi adds. “This work is for the soul.”

Celebrating its 10 th anniversary, the Monsoon Festival of Performing Arts returns Aug. 7 to 17 with a variety of events highlighting South Asian artists.

For more information, see https://www.monsoonartsfest.ca/2025-events.