Expanding the possibilities
of performance
Photo, courtesy of the artist
Suitable Climate
b current Performing Arts
Venue
Theatre Passe Muraille, Mainspace
August 6, 7:30pm
Co-presented with b current Performing Arts, Theatre Passe Muraille, and Diaspora Dialogues - TD Black Playwrights Mentoring Program
120 Minutes
Ticket Price
FREE (registration required)
Suitable Climate by Donovan Hayden, brings to light the overlooked history of Black settlers in Western Canada. This compelling historical fiction follows the Cook family, a Black American family that settles in Western Canada in the early 1900’s. Intertwined with their journey is a contemporary story of a father and son rediscovering this hidden legacy. Both families grapple with the enduring struggles of claiming their rightful space, the unyielding spectre of racism, and uncovering moments of joy in a world often designed against them. Suitable Climate boldly challenges the narrative that Black people are foreign to Canada, celebrating the profound impact of Black settler communities on our present-day understanding of Black Canadian identity.
Join us for a relaxed staged reading that honours the past and shapes the future.
Donovan Hayden: Playwright
Marcel Stewart: Director
Brenden McMurtry-Howlett: Dramaturg
Kira Allen: Producer
Suitable Climate is supported by Metcalf Foundation Booster Fund, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Diaspora Dialogues, and Theatre Passe Muraille.
The August 6th staged reading of Suitable Climate is designated as a Relaxed Performance and a Risk-Conscious Performance. All audience members are required to wear face masks or coverings in Theatre Passe Muraille, Mainspace at all times.
Content: discussions of historical and systemic racism, references to colonialism and genocide, use of racial slurs, depictions of discrimination and prejudice, mention of historical violence, themes of displacement and identity struggle
SummerWorks Exchange programming – a dynamic space for emergent creative thinking to come into focus, gathering artists and audiences together around relevant and urgent creative proposals and artistic practices.