Djanet Sears

Last updated
Djanet Sears
BornJanet Sears
1959 (age 6364)
London, England
CitizenshipCanadian
Education Bachelor of Fine Arts honours in theatre
Alma mater York University

Canadian Film Centre

New York University
Genre Drama
Notable worksAfrika Solo, Harlem Duet, The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God

Djanet Sears is a Canadian playwright, actor and director, nationally recognized for her work in African-Canadian theatre. Sears has many credits in writing and editing highly acclaimed dramas such as Afrika Solo, the first stage play to be written by a Canadian woman of African descent; its sequel Harlem Duet ; and The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God . [1] The complexities of intersecting identities of race, and gender are central themes in her works, [2] as well as inclusion of songs, rhythm, and choruses shaped from West-African traditions. [1] She is also passionate about "the preservation of Black theatre history," [2] and involved the creation of organizations like Obsidian Theatre, and AfriCanadian Playwrights Festival. [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Born (1959) in England, to a Guyanese father and a Jamaican mother, [3] Sears lived there until 1974 when her family moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and then settled in Oakville, Ontario in 1975. [1] Her birth name was Janet — she added the D after a trip to West Africa where she came across a plateau called "Djanet," inspiring her to change her name as a nod to her African ancestry. [3]

Sears attended York University where she obtained an Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre in 1999, followed by studies at the Canadian Film Centre and New York University. [1]

Career

After returning from a trip to West Africa, Sears wrote her stage play Afrika Solo, which premiered in 1987, and sparked the creation of many other full-length plays like Double Trouble, and Harlem Duet. [1] Sears is not only a writer for theatre, but also has many credits in acting, directing, and editing multiple volumes of an anthology of Canadian African plays called Testifyin': Contemporary African Canadian Drama. [4]

Sears contributed to the creation of the AfriCanadian Playwrights Festival in 1997, which is a culmination of African centred plays on the Canadian stage. [1] It was held in Toronto in 2003 as well as 2006. [5] Sears also belongs to and is a founding member of the Obsidian Theatre "dedicated to producing works by authors of African descent living or working in Canada." [3]

Sears as an educator worked as an adjunct professor teaching drama at University College, University of Toronto. [5] Additionally she has held many positions like the international artist-in-residence at Joseph Papp Public Theatre, the writer-in-residence at the University of Guelph, and playwright-in-residence at Nightwood Theatre. [4]

Plays

Awards and honours

Sears full-length play Afrika Solo won the International Armstrong Award for Outstanding Radio Play (1991), and the Silver Prize at the International Radio Festival of New York (1991); its sequel Harlem Duet has acquired multiple Dora Mavor Moore Awards, and The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God was shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award (2004). [6] Sears's other distinctions include an even more extensive list including Canada's highest literary award. [4]

Directing credits

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theatre of Canada</span> Canadas contemporary theatre

Canada's contemporary theatre reflects a rich diversity of regional and cultural identities. Since the late 1960s, there has been a concerted effort to develop the voice of the 'Canadian playwright', which is reflected in the nationally focused programming of many of the country's theatres. Within this 'Canadian voice' are a plurality of perspectives - that of the First Nations, new immigrants, French Canadians, sexual minorities, etc. - and a multitude of theatre companies have been created to specifically service and support these voices.

Alison Sealy-Smith is a born Canadian-born Barbadian actress who is best known for her role as Storm in various Marvel animated TV series.

Obsidian Theatre Company is a Canadian professional theatre company that specializes in works by Black Canadian artists. The company is located in Toronto, Ontario. The declared mandate of the company is a threefold mission: to produce plays, to develop playwrights and to train theatre professionals. Obsidian is dedicated to the exploration, development, and production of the Black voice. They produce plays from a world-wide canon focusing primarily, but not exclusively, on the works of highly acclaimed Black playwrights. Obsidian provides artistic support, promoting the development of work by Black theatre makers and offering training opportunities through mentoring and apprenticeship programs for emerging Black artists.

Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) is a 1988 comedic play by Ann-Marie MacDonald in which Constance Ledbelly, a young English literature professor from Queen's University, goes on a subconscious journey of self-discovery.

Alisa Palmer is a Canadian theatre director and playwright. She was the artistic director of Nightwood Theatre from 1993 to 2001. Palmer is currently the artistic director of the English section of the National Theatre School of Canada.

Nightwood Theatre is Canada's oldest professional women's theatre and is based in Toronto. It was founded in 1979 by Cynthia Grant, Kim Renders, Mary Vingoe, and Maureen White and was originally a collective. Though it was not the founders' original intention, Nightwood Theatre has become known for producing feminist works. Some of Nightwood's most famous productions include This is For You, Anna (1983) and Good Night Desdemona (1988). Nightwood hosts several annual events including FemCab, the Hysteria Festival, and Groundswell Festival which features readings from participants of Nightwood's Write from the Hip playwright development program.

Sally Clark is a Canadian playwright and filmmaker.

Black Theater Workshop (BTW) is a non-profit theater company headquartered in Montreal. It is one of the most enduring Black English-speaking professional theater companies in Canada. It was founded by Clarence Bayne and Arthur Goddard, who were also instrumental in establishing the Trinidad and Tobago association. Over the years, the Black Theater Workshop has been renowned for its collaboration with numerous accomplished artistic directors.

Walter Marven Borden, is a Canadian actor, poet and playwright. He is originally from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. His film and television credits include Nurse.Fighter.Boy, The Event, Gerontophilia, Lexx and Platinum.

Monique Mojica is a playwright, director, and actor based out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was born in New York City, but came to Canada as founding member of Native Earth Performing Arts.

Mary Vingoe is a Canadian playwright, actor, and theatre director. Vingoe was one of the co-founders of Canadian feminist theatre company Nightwood Theatre and later co-founded Ship's Company Theatre in Parrsboro and Eastern Front Theatre in Halifax. From 2002 to 2007, Vingoe was artistic director of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival. Vingoe is an Officer of the Order of Canada and received the Portia White Prize. Her play Refuge was a shortlisted nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama at the 2016 Governor General's Awards.

The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God is a drama written and produced by Canadian playwright Djanet Sears. The production ran from October 2003-March 2004, co-produced by Obsidian Theatre and Nightwood Theatre, and was reprised in 2015 at the National Arts Centre and Centaur Theatre. A print version of this play was published by Playwrights Canada Press in 2003.

Harlem Duet is a 1997 dramatic play by Canadian playwright Djanet Sears. Billie, a young graduate student in Harlem, deals with her husband Othello leaving her for a white woman named Mona. The play moves through time to show Billie and Othello's relationship being torn apart by racial tensions at a Southern US cotton plantation in 1860, and in Harlem in 1928 and the present. Though the characters draw inspiration from Shakespeare's play Othello, Billie and the story are original creations.

Kim Renders was a Canadian writer, director, actor and designer and a founding member of Nightwood Theatre, the oldest professional feminist theatre company in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Codrington</span> Canadian actress and playwright

Lisa Codrington is a Canadian character actress and playwright. She is most noted for her role as Gail on the comedy series Letterkenny and her theatrical plays Cast Iron, which was a nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama at the 2006 Governor General's Awards, and Up the Garden Path, which won the Carol Bolt Award in 2016.

Kelly Thornton is a Canadian theatre director and dramaturge. She has served as artistic director of Nightwood Theatre and is the current artistic director of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. Thornton was the co-head of Equity in Canadian Theatre: the Women’s Initiative.

Kate Lushington is a Canadian theatre artist and teacher. From 1988 to 1993, Lushington was the artistic director of Nightwood Theatre. Lushington has worked with The Clichettes and is the writer of The Apocalypse Plays: A Legacy Project.

Diane Roberts is an interdisciplinary theatre creator. Roberts was a founding member of Obsidian Theatre. Roberts was an artistic co-director of Nightwood Theatre, the artistic director of Urban Ink Productions, and a co-founder and artistic director of Boldskool Productions. She is the creator of the Arrivals Legacy Project.

Baņuta Rubess is a Latvian-Canadian theatre director and playwright. She co-wrote This is For You, Anna as a member of the Anna Project. Rubess was a co-recipient of the 1988 Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award for children's theatre for her play Thin Ice.

Aida Jordão is a Portuguese-Canadian playwright, theatre director, and academic. She is a co-founder of the feminist theatre group, Company of Sirens, and she co-created This is For You, Anna, a germinal Canadian feminist theatre play.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nicholls, Sandra. "Djanet Sears". The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved 2016-11-25.
  2. 1 2 "Djanet Sears". Playwrights Guild of Canada. Playwrights Guild of Canada. 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Swerkstrom, Annie; Nelson, Joelle; Prieditis, Shelley (16 December 2004). "Djanet Sears" (PDF). Voices from the Gap. University of Minnesota. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Djanet Sears." In Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Literature Resource Center (accessed November 26, 2016).
  5. 1 2 Matzig, Catherine; Greenberg, Joel (12 August 2009). "Sears, Djanet". Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia. Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  6. "Djanet Sears". Playwrights Canada Press. Playwrights Canada Press. 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  7. "1998 Alumni – Harry Jerome Awards" . Retrieved 2023-01-10.