Zaiba Baig is done being the nice girl. The award-winning writer and performer is making her return to theatre this month with Kainchee Lagaa + Jhooti: The Begging Brown Bitch Plays—a bold, unflinching, and ambitious double bill exploring what liberation looks like for trans women of colour, running from April 1-18 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.

Baig is best known as the co-creator and star of Sort Of, the Canadian comedy that ran for three seasons, and was praised for its meaningful representation. But before becoming an on-screen success, Baig’s first love was theatre. 

“Theatre is where I learned everything about my artistry. I always knew that when Sort Of was going to end that I wanted to come back to theatre in some way,” she tells us. This April, she’s doing just that, creating what she describes as her most ambitious work yet.

Baig began writing the first play in the double bill, Kainchee Lagaa (which translates to “struck by scissors”), 10 years ago. It tells the story of two siblings with a deep connection trying to find each other again—one is a trans woman sex worker in Pakistan, and the other is her brother, based in Etobicoke. This play will be followed by Jhooti (meaning “liar”), a solo piece starring Baig about a trans woman on the run, whose truths begin to unravel.

In The Begging Brown Bitch plays, trans women are at the centre—not relegated to the sidelines. The plays both examine deception and desire, as well as families fractured by displacement and a search for belonging. For Baig, these pieces align with the death of her “nice girl” era, channelling the anger and sadness she feels about our current political moment.

“These pieces will bite you,” Baig says. “Brown people, newcomers and immigrants…trans women of colour. Those groups are being targeted. Dehumanized. Vilified…rights being taken away…I wanted to look at each of these groups and through the plays, offer a blueprint of like, what if we didn’t follow the rules? What if we weren’t nice? What if we actually made the lives of our oppressors miserable—fight fire with fire?”

Baig takes on serious subject matter in these new plays, but like in Sort Of, she’s never afraid to find humour in the tragedies and trials of life. “I think the people who love Sort Of love the tone and love that they got to see a perspective that they don’t always get, and that is totally in these Begging Brown Bitch plays,” Baig tells us. 

Sort Of was a beacon for representation and inclusive casting. Not only was a gender fluid character at the centre of the show (played by Baig), but a diverse group of supporting characters surrounded them. The series racked up dozens of awards and nominations, including two wins for Best Comedy Series at the Canadian Screen Awards, 3 GLAAD Award nominations, and a Peabody Award win. The series wrapped up in 2023, and Baig tells us it feels “weird” to be on the other side of a project that was so all-consuming for several years.

“I’m so grateful that a thing like that exists in this world…it will exist forever, and I’m really proud of the kind of story we told and what it meant to people. I got some really amazing messages about how it changed people’s lives, or people realizing they can and want to transition through the show,” Baig says. “But I’m ready to move on. I’m on to the next thing, and I want people to come with me.”  

The Begging Brown Bitch Plays will mark Baig’s return to the stage for the first time since 2020. As a playwright, Baig is basking in the freedom that writing for the stage offers. “The stakes are lower, because people aren’t like, ‘this scene costs millions of dollars, so you can’t screw it up,’” Baig says. In a way, she shares, the financial constraints of theatre can inspire more creativity.

“That sense of artists really figuring out how to stretch a dollar…there’s that indie kind of feeling, which is a really fun place to create from as an artist. Hard too… but there is something fulfilling in like, Yeah, let’s go. Let’s figure out how to make something work.”

Baig’s experience in the theatre world goes back to 2018 with her first play, Acha Bacha, which opened when Baig was 23. Since then, some things haven’t changed—like The Begging Brown Bitch plays, Acha Bacha was a queer story, and one that was unabashedly open about sex. “I’ve always been obsessed with sex,” Baig says. “Even in the first play I ever wrote, it opens with a blowjob scene, so I’ve never been afraid of it.” But what has changed since that play is her ability to voice her concerns about how her story is told. “If I believed in my voice more when I was 23 I would have advocated for some things, but I just didn’t know how to. Now, I will not let something messed up slide.”

Another way Baig is using her voice is through her deep commitment to mentoring other trans artists. Alongside The Begging Brown Bitch Plays, she’s leading a mentorship program where trans artists can build skills by assisting with key roles in the production process. One of the lead performers in Kainchee Lagaa worked in India, but wasn’t able to find any performance jobs in Canada. This play will be her first foray into Canadian theatre, and through Baig’s program, she’s paired with a mentor, an acting coach, and a movement coach.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for people who mentored me for free, bought me coffees, and gave me notes on my plays. That meant everything to me,” Baig says. “Trans artists really need to be invested in. lf untruthful stories are being told about us in the media all the time, we’ve got to have those counternarratives out there. That’s why I really believe in us continuing to deepen our skills, our artistry.”

As she looks ahead, after the run of her sister plays, and even after her future projects (including a screenplay in early development), Baig is deeply curious about leadership. She tells us she’s constantly thinking about the next generation of artists, and how she can make sure trans people aren’t erased in art and storytelling. 

“I’d love to call the shots on a much larger level…not just my own stuff. I think there’s really great voices out there, so I want to get behind making them happen too,” she says. “The stakes feel high right now. We need this kind of investment.”

Kainchee Lagaa + Jhooti: The Begging Brown Bitch Plays are on stage now at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre until April 18.