Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
Winner of the Contra Guys Award for New Performance Text 2018
In this unapologetic and sharp-witted perspective about the evolving Black experience in Canada and around the world, a rhythmic fusion of spoken word, satire, and soulful dialect emerges steady as a heartbeat through a journey of raw truths and deep-rooted questions. How does a racialized group teach their future generations to unlearn internalized self-hatred? What is the essence of Blackness beyond skin colour? Is it possible to be free living in present-day systemic racism? Designed to ignite necessary conversations, this powerful collection of engaging scenes that range from church to Black Twitter to Africville aims to construct an understanding of what it means to be Black.
“A poetic yet scathing deep dive into racism in Canada and around the world…this play asks certain questions that will stick with you.” —CBC Arts
“The Negroes Are Congregating will be eye-opening for some and cathartic for others. It is a much-needed wake-up call on the realities of Black existence in a society we fondly think of as progressive for everyone.” —Mooney on Theatre
“The Negroes Are Congregating is a relentless, in your face, mélange of sketch, vignette, and spoken word that takes you to church and into the Black psyche living with anti-Black racism, all without missing a beat. The play is intricate, funny, contemplative, and incredibly fast-paced.” —byblacks.com
Natasha Adiyana Morris is a soft-spoken, dramatic storyteller. Born in Winnipeg and raised in Toronto’s West End—in the most encouraging and full’up Jamaican household—being (h)extra is in her blood. Recognized for founding PIECE OF MINE Arts, an initiative that presents works in progress by Black play creators, she owes a great deal to the esteemed tutelage of b current, anitafrika! dub theatre, Obsidian Theatre, and Volcano Theatre. Her debut production The Negroes Are Congregating (PIECE OF MINE Arts, Theatre Passe Muraille) was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play. She is honoured to be a Soulpepper Academy and York University (Sociology B.A.) alumni.