About Me
Actor, playwright and Artistic Director of El Destino Productions.
As an actor, have worked in film, tv, industrial videos, commercials, and CBC radio. Favourite theatre roles include: Beneatha in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun (HADLEY Players, Harlem, New York City); Yank in Eugene O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape (Threshold Theatre); Amarantha in George Elliott Clarke’s Whylah Falls (National Arts Centre / Eastern Front Theatre); Girl (originated role) in Dionne Brand’s thirsty (National Arts Centre); Cindy (originated role) in Andrew Moodie’s The Lady Smith (Theatre Passe Muraille); Assata (originated role) in Maxine Bailey & Sharon Lewis’ Sistahs (Sugar ‘n Spice Productions); Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (Carousel Players); and Viola in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (Thousand Islands Playhouse).
Writer for theatre and CBC radio. Playwright-in-residence at the National Arts Centre (2008/2009) and Theatre Passe Muraille (1999/2000). Member of the Tarragon Theatre Playwrights Unit (2000/2001). Staged readings of my work at: AfriCanadian Playwrights Festival, Black Theatre Workshop, Tarragon Theatre, Groundswell Festival (Nightwood Theatre), Playwrights Workshop Montreal, Lunation (Oakwood Village Arts Festival). Critically acclaimed main stage production of my play, Swan Song of Maria (A Tragic Fairy Tale) at Black Theatre Workshop in Montreal (2009).
Recipient of creation and production grants from Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and Toronto Arts Council.
Born in Montreal. Spent several years studying and working in New York City. Graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (New York City) and Marianopolis College (Montreal). B.A. (Communication Studies) from Concordia University (Montreal).
El Destino Productions
Formed El Destino Productions in 2007.
The first project was a co-production with Threshold Theatre, in 2011, of Swan Song of Maria (A Tragic Fairy Tale), at the Next Stage Festival in Toronto.
In March of 2018, Threshold Theatre and El Destino Productions produced a well received public reading of my play, Stormbound (Crystal Ice Reflections). Stormbound was an award winning CBC radio drama, that started out as a stage play.
Mandate
The mandate of El Destino Productions is to produce work that explores the point of view of the Black voice – in all of its humanity – as it exists in Canada in the 21stcentury. The Black voice in relation to itself and others, and in its murky reflection in a country where there is no single clearly shared black culture to dive into, nor to draw from.
El Destino Productions is a company that shifts shape and creative personnel according to the needs of the work. A company that strives to match sensibility to work: work that’s neither snobbishly exclusive, nor patronizingly inclusive. The voice of the work is Black. The artists who bring the work to life are diverse, honoured and respected.
There is no such thing as colour blind casting. No one is blind to anyone’s colour. So, rather than pretend we are, we produce work that speaks to our shared humanity in the face of our ever evolving, colliding, co-mingling, sometimes cruel, sometimes poetic – potentially inspiring – differences. Work that comes from the kind of confidence and commitment that trusts it will find its audience, and knows it will trust the audience it finds. Work that is unafraid to use poetry, beauty, emotions and simplicity to tell, sometimes dark, human stories: stories that explore both the fusion and collision of intersecting myths, cultures, races, traditions and histories that is contemporary Canada.
Currently…
Collaborating with Threshold Theatre to co-produce an independent production of Stormbound with El Destino Productions.
Writing a new play called, Lonely Sparrows.
Working on a documentary film.
Residing in Toronto.
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