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AfriCanadian Playwrights Festival
By: Mark Andrew Lawrence Jul. 18, 2006
HONOURING THE WORD!
August 22 - 27, 2006
The AfriCanadian Playwrights Festival is a powerful, tri-annual gathering of Canadian and international theatre artists of African descent designed to celebrate, encourage, develop, promote and present African Canadian Playwrights and their plays.
The Festival programming takes place at CanStage (26 Berkeley Street), Harbourfront Centre Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse and University College at the University of Toronto, and features Conference Sessions, Salon Luncheons, Play of the Day Readings, Showcase Workshop Productions, and the Blow Out Bash following Opening Celebrations, bringing together established and emerging Black theatre practitioners and scholars from across the country and around the world.
AfriCanadian Playwrights Festival Artistic director Djanet Sears is pleased to announce the list of playwrights involved in this year's festival; Lillian Allen, Carol Anderson, Trey Anthony, Dwight Arthur, Gerry Atwell, Mercedes Baines, Anthony Barrow, George Boyd, Dian Bridge, Austin Clarke, George Elliott Clarke, Lisa Codrington, Lucky Campbell, Pat Darbasie, Louise Delisle, Diona Dolabaille, Harry J. Elam, Jr., Lesley Ewen, Ashton Francis, Lorena Gale, Shauntay Grant, Sylvia Hamilton, Edwige Jean-Pierre, Asha Jeffers, Marcia Johnson, Don Kinch, Michelle La Flamme, Djennie Laguerre, Naila Keleta Mae, Michael Miller, Andrew Moodie, Alicia Payne, Joseph Pierre, Kamahli Powell, Djanet Sears, d'bi young, ahdri zhina mandiela, Alison Sealy-Smith, Satori Shakoor, Ras Leon Saul, Kwame Stephens, Colin Taylor, Anne-Marie Woods, David Woods and d'bi young."This year, AfriCanadian Playwrights Festival pays homage to the shoulders on which we stand; from which vantage point we are allowed a look at new and hugely exciting possibilities and directions, through the words of playwrights past, present and future. Invoking the power of call and response, in the conjuring of names, we give thanks for our survival; and summon the courage to continue creating."
Djanet Sears, Alison Sealy-Smith, ahdri zina mandiela,
Co-Creators, Honouring The Word Opening Celebrations
Highlights of the 2006 AfriCanadian Playwrights Festival include:
* Opening Celebrations - Honouring The Word is a joyful, honourific celebration of over 25 years of African Canadian theatrical expression which will feature excerpts and scenes from nearly two-dozen plays, fused together by the ceremonial naming of all the Black playwrights in Canada that we have been able to identify. Followed by a Reception and Blow-out Bash!
* Conference sessions include a featured lecture by Dr. Harry J. Elam, Jr., the Olive H. Palmer Professor in the Humanities, the chair of the Drama Department, Director of the Committee on Black Performing Arts and Director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford University. As well, this year's Conference will feature papers by George Elliott Clarke (U of T), Andrea Davis (York U), Honor Ford-Smith (U of T), Ric Knowles (U of Guelp), Michelle La Flamme (UBC), Rinaldo Walcott (YorkU) and Jerry Wasserman (UBC), among others.
* Salon Luncheon Readings where writers give voice to their own work, accompanied by a sumptuous mid-day feast.
* The Play of The Day Reading Series including Black Mothers Don't Say I Love You by Trey Anthony, author of da' kink in my hair; who new grannie by ahdri zhina mandiela, a dub aria in ten movements' and Trudeau: Long March/Shining Path by George Elliot Clarke, one of Canada's most celebrated poets and authors.
The daily Showcase Workshop Productions present new works in the later stages of development by presenting them with some production elements such as set, costumes and lighting.
* Wade in the Water, by George Boyd, follows one man's perilous yet uplifting journey to find his roots and celebrate the beauty of the human spirit.
* The Language of the Heart, by Andrew Moodie, is a musical is set in Niggeratti Manor during the roaring 20s and is the musical story of Wallace Thurman, a forgotten figure of the Harlem Renaissance.
* The Polished Hoe by Alison Sealy-Smith and Colin Taylor, and based on the award-winning novel by Austin Clarke about an elderly West Indian woman who has just confessed to committing murder.
* blood claat - one womban story, which recently won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play and Best actress for author and actor d'bi young, is being presented as a special showcase production before being remounted for two weeks at Theatre Passe Muraille in August.
* Tales from the Clit by Satori Shakoor is an irreverent and thought provoking romp through the life of one woman on her search to find her ideal of humanity. For Adults only!
* Swan Song by Carol Anderson is a poetic play that interweaves storytelling with ballet danced to sensuous Latin vibes.
* Steal Away Home by Shauntay Grant is a collection of stories which illustrate and highlight various moments in the life of a young, Black, Nova Scotian woman troubled with the load of her past.
Originally inspired by August Wilson's groundbreaking speech, The Ground on Which I Stand, the first AfriCanadian Playwrights Festival in 1997 gathered nearly 50 Canadian playwrights of African decent for a celebration of Black playwriting in Canada. The millennium edition of the AfriCanadian Playwrights Festival saw the addition of Workshop Productions which showcased a number of new works in the later stages of development by presenting them with production elements. Moreover, Playwrights Canada Press published Testifyin': Contemporary African Canadian Drama, Vol. I, an anthology of Black Canadian plays, the first collection of its kinds in this country. The 3rd edition of the festival in 2003 broadened the spectrum of African Canadian playwrighting and theatre in the Canadian cultural studies arena with the addition of a conference component and the publication of Testifyin': Contemporary African Canadian Drama, Vol. II.
AFRICANADIAN PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL
August 22 - 27, 2006
Festival Passes $100 each (Limited Festival Passes include access to ALL Festival events)
Festival Day Pass $25 each (Includes access to all Festival events on the day the pass is valid)
Opening Celebrations, August 22, 8pm @ CanStage - PWYC
Conference Sessions @ University College Student Union - $10 each
Plays of the Day Reading Series @ Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse - $7 each
Showcase Workshop Productions @ Venues City-wide - $15
All tickets and festival passes can be purchased in person at the CanStage box office,
26 Berkeley Street from 10am - 6pm, or over the phone at 416.368.3110
On the day of each event, tickets are available at the venue's box office, 2 hours before curtain
* Single Tickets to The Polished Hoe are available through the Harbourfront Centre box office
by calling 416.973.4000 - http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/noflash/info/tickets.php
For a full schedule of events please visit http://africanadian.com
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