Presented in conjunction with I Am Black H istory by Donna M. Paris and David O. Zapparoli as part of Missing Pages\, an online exhibition guided by BRIDGE Centre for Architecture + Design an d Cambridge Art Galleries | Idea Exchange.
\nLeslie McCurdy\, critic ally-acclaimed actor\, playwright\, dancer\, choreographer\, singer and me ntor\, eloquently portrays: Marie-Joseph Angelique\, a slave who was said to have burned down "half" of Montreal from whom we have the first slave n arrative in North America\; Rose Fortune\, the first "policewoman" in Nort h America who helped "freedom seekers" settle in Annapolis Royal Nova Scot ia\; Mary-Ann Shadd\, educator\, publisher\, and abolitionist: the first N orth American woman to publish and edit a newspaper and Viola Desmond who refused to give up a seat to segregation well before the celebrated Rosa P arks and who is the new face of the Canadian $10 bill.
\nFor over 21 years Leslie has toured across Canada with her one-woman play\, Things My Fore-Sisters Saw. The play\, about which noted Nova Scotian historian Gra ham Reynolds\, author of Viola Desmond's biography says\, "put more histor y into an hour than what I have in my whole book"\, is an excellent way to educate audiences on the Canadian history that led up to Viola Desmond's brave act. Wanda Robson\, Viola Desmond&rsquo\;s sister said the performan ce is &ldquo\;awesome&rdquo\;.
\nAbout the artist:< /p>\n
Recipient of the 2014 Elizabeth Havelock Grant from the Windsor En dowment of the Arts\, and the 2014 and 2000 Mayor&rsquo\;s Awards for Arti st of the Year and Outstanding Performing Artist of Windsor\, Ontario resp ectively\, Leslie McCurdy has performed internationally as an actor\, danc er/choreographer\, and singer. She has several stage film and TV credits b ut is most famous for the one-woman plays that she writes and performs. Th e Spirit of Harriet Tubman\, her first play\, was a finalist for a Canadia n Chalmers Award for Best New Play for Young Audiences and was performed a t the 2010 Los Angeles Women&rsquo\;s Festival\, the 2011 National Black T heatre Festival in North Carolina\, the inaugural Living Legacy Series of the DC Black Theatre Festival Washington\, DC in 2012 and the inaugural Pa ul Robeson Art is a Weapon Theatre Festival in London\, England. Her secon d play\, Things My Fore-Sisters Saw\, was filmed for TV and was premiered on the Bravo Network in Canada in February 2006. She is lauded for the bri lliance of her works and the messages of social consciousness that are ins tilled through them. Leslie is the subject of a documentary film entitled On the Money\, depicting her work as a performing artist/social activist\, that is currently playing on the CBC Gem streaming service under the Abso lutely Canadian program.
\nImage courtesy of Leslie McCurdy.
\nThis program is delivered through Zoom. You only need to register once pe r viewing device
\nCost: Free
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