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Intermediate Senior Drama

Race-Conscious Casting

Highlighting Black Female Canadian Playwrights

Further Resources

Meet our Guest Editor

Hannah Decker is responsible for recommending the items presented on this page, and writing all annotations. Hannah was a Concurrent Education student at Queen's University. She studies to be an educator at the Intermediate/Senior level with teachables in English and Drama. Her love of theatre has been growing ever since she started drama classes as a child but has noticed in recent years the lack of diversity in the plays explored in classes. With this curated list of plays, she hopes to shed some light on the amazing work being done by Black, female Canadian playwrights in recent years. Hannah loves fostering dogs from the Kingston Humane Society with her roommates.

Playwright Bios

Trey Anthony: 'Da Kink in My Hair
Trey Anthony is a playwright, professional speaker, producer and author. She is the first Black Canadian woman to have her own primetime TV show on a Canadian Television network. Her other works include How Black Mothers Say I Love You and Black Girl in Love (With Herself).

Donna-Michelle St. Bernard: A Man A Fish
Donna-Michelle St. Bernard is an award winning playwright, emcee and arts administrator. She was the playwright in residence for companies including the National Arts Centre and she is the artistic director for New Harlem Productions. Her other works include Cake, The House You Burn and Sound of the Beast.

Leah Simone Bowen: The Flood
Leah Simone Bowen is a writer, producer and director. She is also known for the podcast she created and co-hosts with Falen Johnson titled, The Secret Life of Canada, which became the first independently created podcast to be picked up by CBC.

Marcia Johnson: Courting Johanna and Serving Elizabeth
Marcia Johnson has been in the Toronto theatre scene for over thirty years now. She has published a number of plays including Serving Elizabeth, Say Ginger Ale, and Perfect on Paper. She also holds a position on the senior advisory board of Womens Playwrights International.

Maxine Bailey: Sistahs
Maxine Bailey writes directs, and produces theatre in the Toronto area. She is currently Director of Public Affairs for the Toronto International Film Festival Group.

Sharon M. Lewis: Sistahs
Sharon M. Lewis is an actor, writer, producer and director in the Toronto area. She was recently awarded the Canadian Screen Award for the TV series Paranormal Nightshift, which she directed and produced.

Shauntay Grant: The Bridge
Shauntay Grant is a multidisciplinary artist, creating in many forms including poetry, playwrighting, and multimedia art. She is an associate professor at Dalhousie University and was the third poetry laureate for the City of Halifax. Her children's book, Africville, received a Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award.

Djanet Sears: Harlem Duet
Djanet Sears is an award-winning playwright who has been working in the Toronto theatre industry for over twenty years now. She has recieved the Dora Mavor Moore Award, Chalmers Award and Governor General's Award for Harlem Duet. Her other works include The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God, and Who Killed Katie Ross.

Andrea Scott: Controlled Damage
Andrea Scott is an award winning playwright who has been creating plays for ten years now. Her works include a one woman play, Damaged, Better Angles: A Parable, and Don't Talk to Me Like I'm Your Wife, all of which were well received by critics.