Articles
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- Written by: Meres J. Weche
- Parent Category: Arts and Entertainment
- Category: Theatre
An interview with two actors currently on stage at the Stratford Festival's 2023 season. They're performing in two plays: Much Ado About Nothing as well as King Lear. Austin Eckert is a Nigerian-Canadian actor from Regina, Saskatchewan. He went to college in Victoria, BC, at the Canadian College of Performing Arts. He has been working in theatre, film and television for the past eight years. This is his second season at Stratford. Also joining the conversation is Andre Sills. Andre is a Guyanese-Canadian veteran actor and producer. This is his ninth season at Stratford since his debut in 2005. He's a graduate of George Brown College's Theatre program.
During the course of this engaging exchange, we delve into the pressures of striving for excellence at all times and the dream of being allowed to fail in a world where tokenism has too often straight-jacketed the evolution of Black stage performers.
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- Written by: Meres J. Weche
- Parent Category: Arts and Entertainment
- Category: Theatre
A discussion with Detroit-based director Sam White, who is currently in her second and favourite season at the Stratford Festival. She discusses how the Stratford Festival has changed over the years and how she works with her cast and crew to create a unique experience for Alice Childress' "Wedding Band." We also delve into Sam's mentors and inspirations who helped build her up, including her parents, who continue to influence her work, and she talks about her passion for sharing Shakespeare's work in the Rust Belt.
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- Written by: Meres J. Weche
- Parent Category: Arts and Entertainment
- Category: Theatre
Lee Siegel fell in love with the musical Rent as a teenager after hearing the soundtrack and reading the Rent Bible. He always dreamed of playing Tom Collins, and as he grew older, he appreciated the show's complex themes of love, growth, and finding oneself in a rough city like New York. Lee loves observing people but also enjoys jumping into the action of the city. Playing a part in Rent has been a fulfilling experience for him.
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- Written by: Meres J. Weche
- Parent Category: Arts and Entertainment
- Category: Theatre
An interview with stage actresses Akosua Amo-Adem and Déjah Dixon-Green. They are both part of the Stratford Festival's current production of Death and the King's Horsemen, written by renowned Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet and Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka. The production runs until October 29. As part of our conversation, we discuss the singularity of staging a Yoruba classic play at Stratford.
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- Written by: Meres J. Weche
- Parent Category: Arts and Entertainment
- Category: Theatre
An interview with stage artist Beck Lloyd—as part of our conversation series from the Stratford Festival's 2022 season. Lloyd currently plays the role of Marianne in the festival's adaptation of Molière's The Miser, which runs until October 29.
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- Written by: Meres J. Weche
- Parent Category: Articles
- Category: Arts and Entertainment
An interview with Ngozi Paul, founder of FreeUp! She discusses her film "FreeUp! Freedom Talks," celebrating BIPOC vocalists broadcasting on CBC and CBC Gem on Canada’s Emancipation Day.
Today is Emancipation Day 2022. Emancipation Day marks the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire, declared on August 1st, 1834. In this episode, I speak to Ngozi Paul, a seasoned performing arts practitioner, writer, producer and award-winning director. She's the founder of FreeUp! Through her company, Emancipation Arts, in partnership with CBC, she speaks to us about her film "FreeUp! Freedom Talks," celebrating BIPOC vocalists within the context of Canada’s Emancipation Day. The film will air today, August 1st, at 8 p.m. ET on CBC and CBC GEM as part of a two-hour special celebration of Emancipation Day.
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- Written by: Meres J. Weche
- Parent Category: Arts and Entertainment
- Category: Theatre
An interview with actors Jessica B. Hill and Jordin Hall, both currently part of two shows in the Stratford Festival's current season. Namely, Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well and Richard III. Our conversation focuses on their leading roles as Helen and Bertram in All's Well That Ends Well.
In this episode of Afropolitan Dialogues, we speak with Jessica B. Hill and Jordin Hall. The two actors are currently performing leading roles as Helen and Bertram in the Stratford Festival's current production of Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well. They're also both concurrently playing Richard III. Performances for both plays are taking place at Stratford's new Tom Patterson Theatre.
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- Written by: Meres J. Weche
- Parent Category: Arts and Entertainment
- Category: Theatre
An interview with performing artists Sandra Caldwell and Amanda De Freitas about their experience on stage with the Stratford Festival's production of the musical Chicago. They discuss their careers and what the show says about women's empowerment and agency.
In this podcast episode, we speak to two performers from the Stratford Festival's current production of the well-known musical Chicago, holding the record as the longest-running American musical on Broadway and is now part of the festival's lineup until October 30th. Directed and choreographed by Donna Feore, the show captures the effervescence of the Roaring Twenties in a tale full of intrigue, adultery, revenge, murder and justice.
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- Written by: Meres J. Weche
- Parent Category: Arts and Entertainment
- Category: Theatre
Amaka Umeh, the first artist of colour to play Shakespeare's Hamlet in the history of the Stratford Festival, is no stranger to breaking norms. In this conversation, she shares how she has navigated her life upstream from conventions both on and off the stage.
"Art in general, there's no substitute for its healing capabilities, and I think it's some of the best of what we do as human beings."
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- Written by: Meres J. Weche
- Parent Category: Articles
- Category: Arts and Entertainment
An episodic series created, co-written, and co-produced by Amanda Parris that follows Dr. Toni Shakur, a self-help guru whose singular mission is to cancel the entertainment industry's reliance on token Black characters....before she gets cancelled herself.
Do you recall the exact time in early childhood when you became aware of your place in the world? Whether you were born into a royal family in Europe or in an impoverished favela in Brazil, there comes a time when this reality hits. This moment of reckoning often determines whether or not you remain oblivious to the ideology behind, for example, cowboy and Indian movies. This coming of age may drive you to start questioning why you're cheering for the cowboy to win, even if the Indian looks more like you.
