Carousel Players joins ‘collective awakening’
Two new plays by diverse group of Canadian women to debut in upcoming theatre seasons
A search for new voices will lead to two diverse works for Niagara children’s theatre company Carousel Players.
Last fall, the company put out the call for new plays or works in progress written by Indigenous, Black or People of Colour creators. The result is two new plays by Canadian women to debut in upcoming seasons.
“Simone, Half and Half” by Montreal’s Christine Rodriguez was originally commissioned by Black Theatre Workshop and premièred in 2019.
A new production of the play about identity and the right to speak will come to Carousel Players in 2022, where it will tour Niagara region schools in the fall.
The 2023/24 will see the première “Mapu” by Hamilton’s Marilo Nunez.
The play follows a young person’s fight for Indigenous land rights in Chile. Carousel plans to develop the piece and workshop over the next three years.
The search for new work was undertaken by Carousel Players’ artistic director Monica Dufault and artistic associate B’atz Joe Recinos.
Dufault says the call was about “creating opportunity for new voices and perspectives.”
“I am eager to work with B’atz to bring together the artistic teams for these projects, and to share these stories with our audiences.”
Recinos says the new work is an example of the “collective awakening” seen during the pandemic. The plays defy the status quo by “using art as a song of unity, equity, inclusion, compassion and defiance to show us that there is no going back to ‘normal,’ not now, not ever.”
Carousel Players will be marking its 50th anniversary in 2022.
The company was forced to cancel its school tours and education programs last year because of the pandemic. It is offering digital programs for schools this year to fill the void.