Mohamed’s aspiration was actually acting, but in retrospect it’s clear that finding her way into comedy was a natural extension of her personality. “I was that nerdy drama club president and captain of the improv team,” she remembers. “I’ve always been the joker, always tried to make a funny situation funnier.”

This made it difficult to land the roles she wanted and knew she deserved. “I always had to have this label of being a ‘Black actress’ or there often had to be some reason why they’d cast me in the story,” she says of her experience. “As I stayed on, the challenge also became for me to not apologize for being there and to not carry any sort of chip on my shoulder.”

Paul’s love for theatre goes back to her childhood when her mother, an ESL teacher, would take her to see plays. “I always had a propensity for the arts,” says Paul. “My mother would take us to the Harbourfront Centre and Dream in High Park. I would also watch Wonder Woman and The Cosby Show and plot out the scenes in my imagination.”

“I’m really inspired by words. Everyone has a story to tell, so the texture and rhythm of words allows us to shape an existence or an experience. I love the “son-ic-ness” of words and the way they flow into each other. Whether leaping off the page or being spit into a mic, words are majestic — words have power.”

The 2010 SummerWorks Theatre Festival kicks off on Thursday and runs from August 5 -15. The fringe-style festival began in 1991 as a much-needed alternative for the small, independent theatre community. SummerWorks is now the largest juried festival in the country, with this year’s event featuring 42 plays plus live music, an interactive multimedia “playground”, walking tours of the local neighbourhood and much more.

Caribana 2010 may be over, but there are many more events happening in the GTA to keep you busy this summer. As always, Sway brings you the best of the week. Check them out!

There are layers of meaning behind that statement. Rickards elaborates: “What I can tell you is, growing up, the face of Broadway looked nothing like me. I didn’t see black women, unless of course the character called for it. I didn’t see normal bodies on stage. Today, I still see a lot of the same. Thin, mostly Caucasian women and men on stage. From my own personal experience, and from producing shows that celebrate ‘real people,’ audiences enjoy seeing themselves reflected on stage. Why do you think we all loved Jennifer Hudson so much? Because she was a woman who didn’t fit the mould, but surpassed expectations and limitations. Broadway needs to encompass us all. It’s way overdue.”

Dion Johnstone’s introduction to Shakespeare came at an early age. They met on the pages of a Classics Illustrated comic book, found at a local flea market. With stories like Macbeth and Julius Caesar, the comic book inspired the young Johnstone. Now in his sixth season at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, North America’s largest classic repertory theatre, the 34-year-old Johnstone continues to pursue his passion for Shakespeare. He takes on the roles of Caliban in The Tempest and Valentine in The Two Gentlemen of Verona. “In the span of a season, I will often play characters with very different polarities,” says Johnstone, whose past roles include Macduff and Octavius Caesar.

A new mandate at the Toronto Centre for the Arts has it shaking up its programming
BY: Jason Roberts
Entertainment seekers in Toronto looking for a different kind of live theatre experience can expect to find it at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, home to the smash hit musical Jersey Boys. Beginning this year, a new mandate introduces an eclectic lineup of shows performed by members of what Darcy Hoover, the Centre’s marketing co-ordinator, calls “the city’s underserved arts community.”
The mandate, developed by Hoover, was born out of an idea …

When speaking with Patrick Parson, founder and artistic director of Ballet Creole, the conversation almost instantly turns to images of dance studios, graceful bodies and the passion that his most cherished creation needs in order to keep growing.