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05.01.12 'Da Kink tackles stereotypes
Metro Toronto - Entertainment
Chris Atchison
It would seem that "da kinks" have been worked out of playwright Trey Anthony's debut dramatic work.
When the stand-up and sketch comic began pouring her emotion onto paper in what would become the play 'Da Kink In My Hair, she couldn't imagine that her collection of rough monologues would one day become the first Canadian production to grace the stage at the Princess of Wales Theatre.
After playing on the fringe festival circuit and a stint at Toronto's Theatre Passe Muraille, 'Da Kink was brought to the attention of theatre impressario David Mirvish, who workshopped the production with Trey Anthony, 30, and director-composer Weyni Mengesha, 26.
Mirvish was impressed with the way 'Da Kink related the stories of six African-Canadian women who gather at a Toronto West Indian hair salon to share their experiences through music, movement and dialogue.
But staging a play of this nature and size is an obvious departure for Mirvish Productions - one that even caught the creator off-guard.
"Yes, totally," Anthony says and laughs when asked if she was surprised by Mirvish's interest in her work. "To be here on a different stage has been a blessing, but really overwhelming, as well. We're very humble in that we know where we started from."
Although Anthony and Mengesha were ecstatic over the possibility of a major theatre run, they insisted on keeping the tone and look of the play as authentic as possible.
Mengesha asked for only half of the 2,000 seat theatre to be used to maintain an intimate setting, while Anthony wanted her actors to be exact representations of "real" women, as she puts it.
"We were careful in the selection of sizes, shapes, hair textures, skin colours, that there were a wide range of black women," the playwright says. "In the media, I think you see a very stereotypical image of black women. We wanted to reverse that and say, 'no, that isn't our story.' "
Through a series of consultations, Mirvish agreed that the creative demands made sense in maintaining the integrity of the script.
For Mengesha, part of that integrity meant a chance to show theatre-going audience that women of all cultural backgrounds have a story to tell - sometimes through unconventional means.
"I think sometimes things haven't been built for (women), but we have to go out and create them. That's the creativity that I want to show - how to build your own space, how to build your moment."
"I'm really hoping that people will start to look at theatre differently and embrace stories," Anthony adds. "But I guess only time will tell."