A Ruff Reads Special Event on the 25th Anniversary of the premiere of Harlem Duet
Supported by Toronto Fringe.
Join Djanet Sears (playwright of Harlem Duet), PJ Prudat (playwright of Ruff’s upcoming production of Otîhêw), and Kwaku Okyere (director of Ruff’s staged reading of Shakespeare’s Nigga) as they discuss the process of creating works inspired by, or in reaction to, Shakespeare’s Othello.
EVENT DETAILS
When: Sunday, April 24th, 2:30pm
Where: Zoom Webinar
Cost: Pay-what-you-can-afford with all ticket proceeds going directly to PIECE OF MINE Arts.
Tickets: CLICK HERE to pay-what-you-can-afford and a webinar link will be sent to you in advance of the event.
PIECE OF MINE Arts presents original works created by artists of the African Diaspora, in addition to youth programming that explores African Canadian narratives. Based in Toronto, Canada, the company platforms bold pieces in development as well as mainstage plays. We nurture opportunities for the growth and preservation of legacy. pieceofminearts.com
About Harlem Duet:
“A rhapsodic blues tragedy…
Harlem Duet is the prelude to Shakespeare’s Othello, and recounts the tale of Othello and his first wife Billie (yes, before Desdemona). Set in contemporary Harlem at the corner of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X boulevards, the play explores the space where race and sex intersect. Malcolm X once suggested that Martin Luther King’s “dream” would turn into a nightmare before it was over. Harlem Duet examines both the dream and the nightmare.
Harlem Duet is Billie’s story.”
Harlem Duet premiered April 24th 1997. It was produced by Nightwood Theatre in the Tarragon Theatre Extra Space
About
About Djanet Sears:
Djanet Sears is a playwright, director, and an assistant professor at the University of Toronto. Her work has graced such stages as the National Arts Centre, Mirvish Productions, Tarragon Theatre, Nightwood Theatre, Obsidian Theatre, Black Theatre Workshop, Centaur Theatre, Soulpepper Theatre, the Public Theatre, Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Crossroads Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Grand Theatre, St. Louis Black Repertory, Canadian Stage, and Factory Theatre. Her best known plays, Harlem Duet and The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God, have been widely published and translated. She has been awarded several honours including a Governor General’s Literary Award, a Canadian Screenwriting Award, the Chalmers Canadian Play Award, Dora Mavor Moore Awards, a Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award and a Gold Prize at the International Radio Festival of New York. She is a founding member of the Obsidian Theatre Company, and the editor of two anthologies: Testifyin’: Contemporary African Canadian Drama, Vols. I & II.
About PJ Prudat:
PJ Prudat (she/her) is a Treaty 6, Meadow Lake born, proud Métis/Cree (roots to Batoche, Red River, Qu’Appelle) & French/Scandinavian actor and a writer. PJ is galvanized by Indigenous perspectives, experiences and stories of this land. She is a resident artist with the Theatre Centre and Nightswimming and recently with Canadian Stage. PJ has performed as a company actor at both the National Arts Centre, the Shaw Festival and has performed in Indigenous~Creative-led shows extensively across the country. She holds a B.A. in Drama from the University of Alberta. PJ is writing Ruff’s 2022 production, “Otîhêw”. Kitatamihinâwâw.
About Kwaku Okyere:
Kwaku Okyere (he/him) is a queer Ghanaian-Canadian multidisciplinary theatre artist. Most recently, Kwaku played Oberon in the Dora-nominated ensemble of Theatre Rusticle’s acclaimed swan song production of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, performed at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, which recently presented Kwaku with the 2020 Queer Emerging Artist Award. Kwaku is also an emerging director, most recently having co-directed the 2nd Year Period Study Project at George Brown Theatre School with veteran director Jeannette Lambermont-Morey. He teaches Shakespeare scene study at GBTS and Sheridan College. Kwaku directed Ruff’s 2022 staged reading of Joseph Jomo Pierre’s Shakespeare’s Nigga.
Special thanks to Nightwood Theatre for their support