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11:11 - Design + Performance, a panel discussion in partnership with Theatre Passe Muraille

February 09, 2021
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Photography by Peter Riddihough

How and where do design and performance intersect?

Join us on Thursday, February 11, 2021 at 4:30pm for a panel discussion with the Creative team of 11:11.

Where the spirit world and the real-world meet, lies a world unapologetically crafted and performed by critically acclaimed trans identified artist, Samson Bonkeabantu Brown. 11:11 explores the other side of fear through the eyes of a young, Black transman struggling to understand the ancestral messages saturating his dreams. 

Panel presented by Toronto Metropolitan University in partnership with Theatre Passe Muraille

Playwright/Performer, Samson Boneabantu Brown

Samson Bonkeabantu Brown is a sangoma, ngaka, inyanga, hoodoo, traditional healer, multidisciplinary artist and playwright. His primary focus is on spiritual healing, ancestral veneration, trans advocacy and the arts. He uses the arts (primarily as an actor and playwright) to create, educate the general public on trans issues. He has been tasked by his ancestors to shed light on how ancestral veneration can assist with healing the self and living in our purpose.

Lighting Designer, Sharmylae Taffe-Fletcher 

Sharmylae Taffe-Fletcher is an emerging Black theatre artist with a passion for lighting and performance that spans her entire life. She is looking forward to bringing the Magic to more projects in the future. An alum of Obsidian’s Mentor/Apprentice program, she is thankful for Obsidian Theatre’s continuing support. Recent credits include: Jingle Belles (Smile Theatre); Welcome to My Underworld (Rare Theatre), Addicted (Watah Theatre), Alex the Artist (Fringe 2017), Bleeders (Watah Theatre), She, Mami Wata, & the Pussy WitchHunt (Watah Theatre). She extends an abundance of gratitude to her supportive family and friends.

Choreographer, Mafa Makhubalo 

Mafa Makhubalo is a movement poet trained in folk forms from the Regions of African tradition, African contemporary, and Western-Contemporary. “I have been influenced by my understanding of dance as an accumulation of memory and the history of my culture.” He has been actively involved in community engagement camps and arts education programs. During 2020-21, Mafa has been a mentor for the Vibes Arts Cohort 2, a resident choreographer with Ballet Jorgen Canada, Theatre Passe Muraille’s 11:11 and TDT Pilot Episode 2021. Mafa was a participant of the Ontario-Quebec cohort program 2019-2021 presented by (La DSR) La danse sur les routes du Québec and Ontario Presents.

Director, Tsholo Visions Khalem

Tsholo Visions Khalema is a proud AmaHlubi warrior, a storyteller braving the elements. Guided by elders and ancestors as He continues to embark on a journey of creating stories that enhance the Black and Transgender voice(s) showing the many diverse intersectionalities of blackness. An Indigenous Black South Africa man of trans experience, the Sun, Tsholovisions is inspired by his culture, his life story and his people. He is a visionary, actor, director and visual artist who wears many hats well. Visit tsholovisions.com (external link)