THEATRE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH
For Black And Free, I partnered with Young People’s Theatre (YPT) – Canada’s largest and oldest professional theatre company for children and youth – to integrate research findings into various initiatives. Together, this partnership focused on three key areas:
1. Developing New Works for the Stage
We worked with playwrights to explore early ideas for three new plays, considering what a play about blackness and freedom for young audiences might consist of.
Playwrights: Samson Bonkeabantu Brown, Marcia Johnson, Makambe K. Simamba
YPT rarely assigns themes to playwrights, but my unconventional approach to providing the theme of blackness and freedom led to Recipe for Change by Makambe K. Simamba—now a Tom Hendry Award-winning play recognized by the Playwrights Guild of Canada for its sensitivity and masterful storytelling.
2. Community Residency Workshops
Four workshops were delivered for TheEDGE participants (ages 7–10 and 16–19), giving young people the opportunity to engage with theatre in a supportive and creative environment, develop acting skills, and connect with themes of blackness and freedom.
3. Drama School Courses on Blackness and Freedom in Black Theatre
The curricula were developed in conjunction with the artist-educators who led it –Yvonne Addai, Jay Northcott, Sarah Rowe, Emerjade Simms, and Christopher James St. Aubyn Williams. Participants explored and performed scenes from works by Black playwrights.
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Black Theatre in Ontario – this five-week course for youth ages 12–13 ran in 2023.
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Black and Free: Scene Study – this 12-week class for youth ages 12-13 ran in 2024.
4. PD Day WORKSHOP PROGRAMMING
Developed curriculum in partnership with Young Peoples’ Theatre and community-organization Freedom School to deliver free theatre education and training to children in the “Black And Free PA Day workshop: Stories of Black Joy and Resistance with Freedom School and YPT” on June 7, 2024
