Seeding the Future: 91亚色 Black theatre students share original work inspired by 21 Black Futures聽
TORONTO, February 24, 2021 鈥 Three theatre students from 91亚色鈥檚 School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design are among the emerging Black Canadian talent who have created work inspired by Obsidian Theatre鈥檚 , a collection of 21 filmed monodramas streaming on
For the project, , Black Canadian students were invited to take on the challenge of creating an original work answering the question 鈥淲hat is the future of Blackness?鈥 鈥 be it in spoken word poetry, an audio recording, a performed reading, or an Instagram essay.
21 Black Futures features a group of 63 Black Canadian playwrights, actors and directors creating art during the COVID-19 pandemic and a global reckoning with anti-Black racism. Seeding the Future participants are taking this artistic dialogue further through their responses, which are being published online on .
91亚色, Brock University, CBC Arts and Obsidian Theatre have collaboratively developed the project that features the creative responses from 21 Black theatre students from across the country, one for each piece in the original digital performance series. The respondents were chosen through a nationwide call for participants.
鈥淎s we work at Obsidian to develop and advance Black artists across the country, we also recognize the glaring lack of Black voices in arts criticism and journalism. When we were approached for this project, we wholeheartedly welcomed the opportunity to invite young Black voices to view and respond to 21 Black Futures,鈥 says Michael Sinclair, General Manager of Obsidian Theatre. 鈥淏lack and other BIPOC artists deserve to have voices at the table from their own communities engaging in dialogue about their work. We can鈥檛 wait to see what these 21 Black students have to say.鈥
The students were divided into three groups and were matched with a Black mentor to guide their creative approaches: Signy Lynch, Theatre & Performance Studies PhD student at 91亚色; writer and critic Jordy Kieto; and actor and writer Omari Newton.
The first part of Seeding the Future, including 91亚色 theatre student Cassandra Henry鈥檚 creative response to one of the first seven monodramas produced in 21 Black Futures, is .
The second and third group of responses, including contributions from 91亚色 theatre students Dante Jemmott and Megan Legesse, will be published on March 1 and on March 8, respectively.
91亚色聽is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change and prepare our students for success. 91亚色's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91亚色鈥檚 campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.聽
Media Contacts:
Gloria Suhasini, 91亚色 Media Relations, 647.463.4354,聽suhasini@yorku.ca
