Watah Theatre Presents
esu crossing the middle passage: orisha trilogy part one
by d'bi.young anitafrika
10-Year Anniversary Production
February 17 – March 1, 2026
Watah Studio Theatre
32 Lisgar Street, Studio 14
Tkaronto
Watah Theatre proudly presents esu crossing the middle passage: orisha trilogy part one, a landmark work of dub theatre by d’bi.young anitafrika, returning to the stage for its 10-year anniversary at the newly established Watah Studio Theatre. The production launches Watah Theatre’s 2026 season and invites audiences to experience anitafrika’s biomyth monodrama work in an intimate studio setting.
Originally premiering in 2016 at the Storefront Theatre to critical acclaim—including Four N’s from NOW Magazine, a Critic’s Pick, and a Dora Award nomination—esu crossing the middle passage has since become a foundational work within anitafrika’s canon and the first chapter of The Orisha Trilogy.
Set aboard a slave ship and embodied by Esu, the Orisha of crossroads and transformation, the piece follows a womxn’s journey into the Transatlantic enslavement system of humxn trafficking, through poetry, ritual movement, and multi-media and sound. A performance installation and ode to the spirit of surthrival, esu crossing is a theatrical event that softens the contours between ritual, performance, and representation.
Originally created during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, esu crossing the middle passage emerged as a politically charged intervention in contemporary theatre, opening space to confront the enduring legacies of colonialism, enslavement, and racial violence. Nearly a decade later, the work speaks with renewed urgency. In a present moment shaped by global unrest and cultural reckoning, the piece affirms theatre as a necessary site for collective witnessing—where history is remembered, embodied, questioned, and re-futured.
This anniversary presentation follows d’bi.young anitafrika’s return to Tkaronto after completing their PhD and re-establishing Watah Theatre, alongside the founding of the Black Theatre School. The School’s 2025 pilot season featured the 20th-anniversary remount of the Sankofa Trilogy and culminated in the creation of three new biomyth monodramas by emerging Black theatre makers KayGeni, Josemar, and Kabrina Robinson. The Watah Studio Theatre, made possible with the support of the City of Toronto, now serves as both a professional performance venue and the primary training space for the School, placing pedagogy, experimentation, and performance in direct kinship.The funds raised from esu crossing the middle passage go towards building the Black Theatre School.
esu crossing the middle passage inaugurates The Orisha Trilogy, Watah Theatre’s 2026 mainstage productions, which continue with shx mami wata & the pxssywitch hunt in spring 2026 and lukumi pantodub opera in summer 2026. Across the trilogy, anitafrika continues their bold experimentation with the expansiveness of dub poetry and dub theatre, and introduces pantodub theatre.
This 10-year anniversary invites audiences back to the crossroads—to encounter a work that remains as necessary now as when it first premiered.
Performance Details
esu crossing the middle passage: orisha trilogy part 1
by d’bi.young anitafrika
Watah Studio Theatre
14–32 Lisgar Street, Tkaronto
February 17 – March 1, 2026
For Media Inquiries: elle de Lyon
contact@blacktheatreschool.com
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