Galen’s Grocer spoofs Canadian billionaire as ‘most hated man in Canada’ at Toronto Fringe

A Brampton actor is part of a cast taking an artistic shot at Canadian grocer and billionaire Galen Weston Jr. in short play blending comedy and real-world headlines.

The show is a social satire called Galen’s Grocer, and is a spoof on the CBC sitcom Kim’s Convince and Weston – the chairman and former president of the Brampton-based Loblaw Companies Limited.

Exploring themes “of capitalism, recent CEO murder news, and the class divide,” Galen’s Grocer isn’t pulling any punches in its criticism of the polarizing Canadian billionaire.

“Galen Easton is the most hated man in Canada. It doesn’t help that there’s a CEO Killer on the loose,” the show’s synopsis reads. “Galen needs to improve his public image fast. He’ll try by making a TV sitcom about how hard it is to run a grocery store: Galen’s Grocer.”

Tackling the topics of murder and food insecurity in a comedy was a challenge for the writers to ensure audiences “don’t feel heavy” while the cast “hold up a mirror to society,” Brampton-based actor Gunjan Chandok told INsauga.com.

“At the root of it, it’s absurd and a critique of power dynamics in society,” Chandok said in an interview. “It’s about the rich versus poor, and also about the class struggle.”

Chandok plays a Brampton resident in the show, whose father used to own a family grocery store. All the characters of the multi-cultural cast (minus the character of Easton) all represent “a different perspective of the class struggle” in Canada, Chandok says.

“A lot of this show is real-life stuff that we’ve pulled from our own tool kits,” she said.

The show walks a fine line for audiences, and “brings a smile to their face, but it also makes them think,” she says. One way the cast tones down the subject matter is by using puppets who star alongside flesh-and-blood actors.

The Loblaw company’s grocery stores, including Real Canadian Superstores, Loblaw’s, NoFrills, Shoppers Drug Mart and others, have come under criticism amid inflation and an affordability crisis in Canada where food bank use has hit record highs in recent years.

An online-led boycott of Loblaw company stores last year was kicked off by consumers frustrated with food prices, which rose by double-digits over just a few years while Canada’s biggest grocers reported higher profits.

And in the U.S., UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in December, leading to a high-profile manhunt and controversial arrest of 26-year-old Luigi Mangione.

The accused killer reportedly said prior to the shooting that the executive “had it coming” and had mused about “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel.”

But Chandok says the show is still a comedy and doesn’t veer into “preachy” territory, despite the heavy subject matter.

Mainly a comedic actor, Chandok got her start on stage in 2018 when she rekindled a love of acting first discovered while attending Rick Hanson Secondary School in Mississauga.

Since then she’s gone on to perform with Hinprov – a bi-lingual improv group performing in Hindi and English.

Galen’s Grocer premiered on Thursday at the Toronto Fringe Festival to a sold-out crowd, and tickets have already sold out for the eight-performance run.

For more information you can visit www.fringetoronto.com/fringe/show/galens-grocer.