The Watah Theatre Double Bill:
I Cannot Lose My Mind by Najla Nubyanluv
Once Upon A Black Boy by d’bi.young anitafrika
DATE - Toronto ON... The Watah Theatre in Residency with Crow's Theatre is thrilled to announce the World Premieres of Najla Nubyanluv’s play I Cannot Lose My Mind and an excerpt Workshop Reading of d’bi.young anitafrika’s exciting new play Once Upon A Black Boy being presented at as a Double Bill at the Streetcar Crowsnest from February 1 to February 17, 2018 with two preview performances on January 30 and 31.
Once Upon A Black Boy by d’bi.young anitafrika is a new Biomyth Dubtheatre piece, exploring the coming-of-age of Tsuki, a 13 year old Black boy living in Toronto with his mother who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Both the Tsuki and his mother Cha navigate the complex landscapes of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, motherhood, Black masculinity and death.
I Cannot Lose My Mind by Najla Nubyanluv tells the story of a young womxn's quest to rid herself of depression. When she meets a doctor who finds that many of her patients living with mental illness are having the same recurring dreams, their paths align on an unexpected afrofuturistic quest for a cure.
From facilitating international artist residencies in South Africa, Hawaii, India, Belize, the UK and Costa Rica to being heralded as a YWCA Woman of Distinction in the Arts, the creative endeavors of African-Jamaican d’bi.young anitafrika are globally celebrated. A triple Dora award-winning playwright-performer, dub poet and arts-educator, d’bi is also the creator of the intersectional creative leadership praxis The Anitafrika Method. She is the founding Artistic Director of Watah Theatre and Anitafrika Retreat Centre where she life-coaches artists from Canada and around the world. d’bi addresses issues of gender, sexuality, race, class and the human experience through her vast field of artistic knowledge and is currently writing her first autobiography entitled Memoir of an Ugly Duckling. Join her Summer 2018 for an Artist’s Retreat in Costa Rica.
Three time graduate of The Watah Theatre & alumni of bCurrent’s rAiz’n in the Sun ensemble, Najla Nubyanluv is a playwright, actor, author, doula & the Residency Coordinator at The Watah Theatre. During her recent Sorplusi Arts Fellowship at Watah, Nubyanluv’s afrofuturist play I Cannot Lose My Mind received funding from Canada Council for the Arts. Nubyanluv played Ancestor Tree in all three stagings of d'bi.anitafrika's award winning production of Lukumi: A Dub Opera (formerly entitled Bleeders). She is the author & illustrator of I Love Being Black, a children’s book published by Sorplusi Press, and was most recentlys published in With/out Pretend’s anthology “Happy If You Know It”. She loves babies, movies, reading, cooking and lots of belly laughter.
The Watah Theatre Double Bill:
I Cannot Lose My Mind written+performed by Najla Nubyanluv | directed+dramaturged by d’bi.young anitafrika
Once Upon A Black Boy written and performed by d’bi.young anitafrika
Previews January 30 – 31 | Running February 1 – 17, 2018 | Tues – Sat at 8:30pm
Sat at 2:30pm | Ticket Price General $30.00 + Students $25
Streetcar Crowsnest | 345 Carlaw Avenue | Advance Tickets bit.do/watah-theatre-double-bill