the list
1. How black mothers say i love you
by trey anthony
2. complex
by rebecca applebaum
3. every letter counts
by nina lee aquino
4. the Refugee Hotel
by carmen aguirre
5.The Making of St Jerome
by marie beath badian
6. Sistahs
by maxine bailey and sharon lewis
7. Miss Julie: Sheh'mah
by tara beagan
8. the flood
by leah-simone bowen
9. thirsty
by dionne brand
10. Hana Hashimoto: sixth violin
by jessica carmichael
11. nanking winter
by marjorie chan
12. the unnatural and accidental women
by marie clements
13. up the garden path
by lisa codrington
14. fancy dancer
by dawn dumont
15. calpurnia
by audrey dwyer
16. Wise Woman of Abyssinia
by rebecca fisseha
17.heaven
by cheryl foggo
18. angelique
by lorena gale
19. the triple truth
by the turtle gals performance ensemble
20. kilt pins
by catherine hernandez
21. all our yesterdays
by chloe hung
22. binti's journey
adapted by marcia johnson
from the novel the heaven shop by deborah ellis
23. two indians
by falen johnson
24. leo
by rosa laborde
25. i call myself princess
by jani lauzon
26. Albumen
by mishka lavigne
27. SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT
by anita majumdar
28. the enchanted loom
by suvendrini lena
29. nightmare dream
by motion | conceived by mumbi tindyebwa
30. a very polite genocide or the girl who fell to earth
by melanie j. murray
31. job's wife
by yvette nolan
32. three fingered jack & the legend of joaquin murieta
by marilo nunez
33. the red priest
by mieko ouchi
34. sister mary's a dyke?!
by flerida peña
35. madre
by bea pizano
36. réunir
by pj prudat
37. mother tongue
by betty quan
38. never the last
by christine quintana
39. brothel #9
by anusree roy
40. the adventures of a black girl in search of god
by djanet sears
41. happy place
by pamela sinha
42. mud
by makambe k simamba
43. conjugal
by donna-michelle st. bernard
44. venus' daughter
by meghan swaby
45. important work
by mystery
46. a song for tomorrow
by christina wong
47. mixie and the halfbreeds
by adrienne wong and julie tamiko manning
48. hongbu and nolbu: the tale of the magic pumpkins
by jean yoon
49. who knew grannie: a dub aria
by ahdri zhina mandiela
Creating this list was empowering and illuminating, a panorama of contemporary creation and an excavation of our elders’ legacy. In some cases we have chosen a well-known playwright’s lesser-known or infrequently-staged work; in some cases we named plays that arrived too early to be fully appreciated in their time. The lengthy process speaks to the richness of our varied voices, and the gaps in the list identify under-represented communities or practises. The play numbered “1” is not the first, nor is the play numbered “49” the last.
The 49 is offered with respect and admiration to all those named and all those implied as we continue to build the collective story of this place.
-Donna-Michelle St. Bernard & Yvette Nolan
the COMMITTEE OF THE 49
YVETTE NOLAN (SK)
DONNA-MICHELLE ST. BERNARD (ON)
JENNA RODGERS (AB)
MEL HAGUE (ON)