Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

In conclusion...

  • She is an influential figure for black theatre artists in Canada
  • Her style is centred around African culture
  • Her major plays were Harlem Duet and Afrika Solo

Reviews

  • Critics generally say that sears uses unique techniques that create "bold and daring works"
  • "Sears combines classical theatre with modern politics effectively to define the black experience.”- Jim Lingerfelt and Roger Kershaw
  • There was a "rich texture of her work gained by conceptual layering” -Christopher Winsor (Harlem Duet)
  • "Too theatrical" and an “overstatement and a relentless earnestness.” -Joel Greenberg
  • “Courageous theatre” -Jim Lingerfelt and Roger Kershaw (Harlem Duet)

International Recognition

Awards

Afrika Solo:

-> Silver Prize at the International Radio Festival of New York (1991)

->Major Armstrong Award (1991)

Harlem Duet:

Sears was the first international artist-in -residence at the Joseph Papp public theatre in NYC (1996)

  • Harlem Duet won many Canadian awards:

->Four Dora Mavor Moore Awards

-> Governor General's Literary Award

  • Martin Luther King Jr Achievement Award (2003)
  • Timothy Findley Award (2004)
  • Harry Jerome Award (1998)

What impact has she made?

Sears has paved a path for Black theatre artists in Canada

  • 1990, Afrika Solo was the first published play by a woman of African Descent
  • 1997, developed the first AfriCanadian Playwrights Festival
  • 1999, founding member of the Obsidian Theatre
  • Harlem duet was the first all-black production

Djanet Sears

Productions

  • Tellin’ It like It is: a compendium of African Canadian Monologues for Actors (2000)
  • Two-volume Testifyin’: Contemporary African Canadian Drama (2000/2003)
  • Directed:
  • Harlem Duet for the Stratford Festival (2006)
  • The Adventures of a Black Girl (2003/2004)

Plays

T.V. Movies

  • In His Father's Shoes
  • Love Songs
  • The Last Debate
  • Afrika Solo (1987)
  • Double trouble (1988)
  • Who killed Katie Smith? (1994)
  • Harlem Duet (1995)
  • Notes of a Coloured Girl (1997)
  • The Adventure of a Black Girl in Search of God (2002)

Who is Djanet Sears?

By: Anabelle and Aya

  • http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/djanet-sears/
  • http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0780758/
  • http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/sears_djanet.php
  • http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/sears_djanet.php

Artistic Style

  • Canadian playwright, director, producer, actress, teacher
  • Born in London, England (1959)
  • Immigrated to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (1974)
  • Later moved to Oakville, ON
  • Background:
  • Father is Guyanese
  • Mother is Jamaican
  • Birth name was Janet, added the D after a trip to Djanet, Algeria

  • influenced by west-african forms of story-telling
  • Sears develops narratives through choral technique, rhythms, singing, and movement

“[My writing] revolves around the process of understanding and exploring one's own African heritage and one's own Westerness.” - Djanet Sears

Education/Training

Bibliography

  • BFA honours degree from York University (1999)
  • Studied at Canadian Film Center and NYU

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi