Celebrate Black Womyn in Theatre @ the Inaugural Black Womxn Theatre Awards

In Honour of Black Womyn in Theatre

In Honour of Black Womyn in Theatre is an evening of recognition and celebration of Black womyn whose work has shaped theatre across North Turtle Island. Held in celebration of International Womyn’s Day, the event includes the launch of the Black Womxn Theatre Digital Archive Project, a special edition publication of d'bi.young anitafrika's Black Womxn Theatre PhD dissertation, and the inaugural Black Womxn Theatre Awards.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

In Honour of Black Womyn in Theatre

March 9, 2026 | 6:00–9:00 PM | Watah Studio Theatre

Toronto, North Turtle Island — On Monday, March 9, 2026, Watah Studio Theatre will host In Honour of Black Womyn in Theatre, a celebration dedicated to recognising and honouring Black womyn whose artistic, pedagogical, and cultural labour has shaped theatre across North Turtle Island.

In commemoration of International Womyn’s Day, the evening centres Black womyn as cultural leaders, knowledge holders, and theatre-makers. Artists, elders, scholars, and community members will come together to witness, celebrate, and formally acknowledge Black womyn’s enduring contributions to the theatrical canon.

The celebration brings together three major offerings that collectively affirm Black womyn’s legacies in theatre.

Program Highlights

Launch of the Black Womxn Theatre Digital Archive Project

The evening will feature the official launch of the Black Womxn Theatre Digital Archive Project, a nationally funded initiative supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. This project creates the first internationally accessible digital archive dedicated exclusively to Black womyn’s theatre in North Turtle Island, centring the work of 100 Black womyn theatre makers from 1970 to the present. The Archive is curated by the Black Womxn Theatre Circle: Sashoya Simpson, Ngozi Paul, Raechele Lovell, Carla Chambers, Najla Nubyanluv, Behbeit Burrell, and d’bi.young anitafrika. It preserves biographies, interviews, and cultural artefacts, ensuring that future generations can access the knowledge, methodologies, and creative legacies that shaped their pathways.

Presentation of a Limited-Edition PhD Dissertation Publication

The celebration will also mark the presentation of d’bi.young anitafrika’s doctoral dissertation, Personhood, Practice, & Pedagogy in Black Womxn Theatre: A Black Queer Transfeminist Dubography. A special limited-edition printing—produced exclusively for the Black womyn in theatre being celebrated on March 9, and limited to 99 copies—will be gifted to the theatre makers in recognition of their essential role in the arts. The dissertation is a critical autoethnography and hybrid memoir-monograph that addresses systemic gaps in archival documentation and institutional recognition of Black womyn in theatre. It introduces the Anitafrika Dub Praxis as a decolonial, Black queer transfeminist approach to theatre training, pedagogy, and performance.

Inaugural Black Womxn Theatre Awards

As a core ceremonial moment, the evening will include the inaugural Black Womxn Theatre Awards. Twenty-one Black womyn will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards honouring their sustained, transformative contributions to theatre in Canada.

About the Venue

Watah Studio Theatre is a newly established space in the Lisgar Arts Centre and home to both the Watah Theatre and the Black Theatre School. These initiatives grow directly from the legacies of Black womyn’s theatre in North Turtle Island and serve as sites of creation, learning, and community gathering.

Event Details

What: A Celebration in Honour of Black Womyn in Theatre

When: Monday, March 9, 2026 | 6:00–9:00 PM

Where: Watah Studio Theatre32 Lisgar Street, Studio 14, Toronto, Ontario, M6J 0C7

Media Inquiries: contact@blacktheatreschool.com

This gathering creates space to honour, witness, and celebrate Black womyn’s theatre as a sacred play-space grounded in Ubuntu: I am because you are because we are.

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