Onstage Buzz

Crosscurrents festival promotes innovative works for artists of colour

BY: Pamella Bailey

A fresh point of view
Playwright Michael Miller joins the heated debate over Africentric schools with his new play Sweating Sugar. Inspired by stories gathered over time while visiting local schools as an artist, Miller explores media, education, and race from a parent's perspective.

"It's about the preconceived notions of blacks and how they affect children in the classroom," says Miller, a father of three, and winner of the prestigious Chalmers Award for excellence in playwriting. "With the dropout rate so high, it's not solely poor parenting on the part of black parents. It's a point of view that's not often brought forward."

Directed by Audrey Dwyer, the staged reading of this one-hander is part of Crosscurrents' lineup of plays showcasing playwrights of colour.

Crosscurrents Festival runs May 1 to 10 at Factory Theatre. For more info visit factorytheatre.ca.

An African classic
The infamous spider Ananse of West African and Caribbean folklore is back. This time, he is a single father struggling to send his young daughter Anansewa to college. Still the trickster, he devises a plan to marry her off to one of four wealthy suitors in a lively competition. What ensues is an entertaining and experimental play The Marriage of Anansewa by the late Ghanaian playwright Efua Sutherland.

"The play gives us an appreciation for what can be done to a story by a very talented playwright to create a dramatic piece," says Modupe Olaogun, artistic producer and founder of AfriCan Theatre Ensemble. "Sutherland uses praise chant, dance and storytelling as building blocks. The experimental nature of her work is what appealed to us."

Since 1998, AfriCan Theatre Ensemble has staged more than 10 productions, bringing African theatrical traditions and experiences to the Canadian audience. "Although this play was produced in 1971 and translated to English, many Canadians of African descent have not yet seen it," says Olaogun, a professor of English at York University who specializes in African and post-colonial literature and drama.

Directed by Bayo Akinfemi — a director, actor and two-time Gemini Award-nominee for CBC's Human Cargo and CBC's The Border — the play serves as a medium of self awareness and self-examination, reminiscent of the traditional Ananse stories.

The Marriage of Anansewa runs April 29 to May 3, Harbourfront Studio Theatre, and from May 13 to 23 at the Berkeley Street Theatre. For more info visit africantheatre.org.