Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

--> Nicole Brooks’ Obeah Opera 2019 previewed in Toronto Dance Festival   By Stephen Weir When close to 3,000 people stomp, cheer, and clap in an almost sold-out theatre, it makes for a volcano of sound.   And, for the 22 women on stage inside the downtown Toronto Sony Centre, it was an opportunity to erupt in dance and song one as they left the stage. On Friday night, the cast of Nicole Brooks’ Obeah Opera 2019, hand slapped, foot stomped, danced and sang acapella with such passion that the audience almost believed they were peeking back in time to the Salem Massachusetts  Witch Trials o f 1692 .   “ The word Obeah is a Caribbean term which is most connected to the word witchcraft,” explains Nicole Brooks, the multi-talented Canadian filmmaker, songstress and producer of the dance opera which was staged twice on the weekend as part of the week long Fall For Dance North festival. “The dance is based on the Salem Witchcraft Trial seen thr...

TruDYNASTY drives 24 hours to play Mas in Miami Trains. Planes. Automobiles. And, quite possibly Boats brought thousands of revelers into South Florida on the weekend to take part in the 34 th Annual Miami Carnival Parade & Concert .   Although revellers in Toronto and New York will vehemently disagree, the Miami event is often self-described as the " Largest  Caribbean  Carnival  in North America.” The big event, as it is in every carnival city, belongs to the mas band parade. More than 17 costume bands, 5 pan orchestras and blaring sound trucks took it down the road all day Sunday. Pictured: TruDYNASTY’s Thea Jackson Although no official announcement has been made as to how many people played mas at the city’s Miami-Dade County Fairgrounds or how many watched from the sidelines. Social media estimate 8,000 people were in amazingly skimpy costumes (much more women than men) and 100,000 took it all in from the sidelines. The local media who cov...

DAVID WINS BIG ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT Photo by: Ceta Ramkhalawansingh Story by Stephen Weir  On Wednesday night Trinidadian Canadian writer David Chariandy’s award winning novel, Brother has won thi s year’s Toronto Book Awards. David Chariandy’s book is a devastating story about the love between a mother and her sons, the impact of race, masculinity and the senseless loss of young lives in Scarborough, in the violent summer of 1991. Brother was one of five books on the City of Toronto and Toronto Library‘s 2018 Toronto Book Awards shortlist. Established by Toronto City Council in 1974, the awards honour books of literary merit that are evocative of Toronto. The 2018 shortlist  Dionne Brand “The Unpublished City“  David Chariandy “Brother“  Carrianne Leung “That Time I Loved You“  Lee Maracle “My Conversations with Canadians“  Kerri Sakamoto “Floating City“ The winner of the 2018 Toronto Book Awards was announced last night at the Toro...

There is a Rose in this Canadian Harlem Review by Stephen Weir   Harlem Duet, currently on stage at the Tarragon Theatre is attracting much attention. It is selling out most nights of its Toronto six-week run. There is nothing new about this 21-year old drama. Certainly not with the script which was written by Guyanese/Ja maican/Canadian Djanet Sears back in 1998. Nor  is there a new message found in the plot line  of the North American Black experience. It is a story of loyalty, revenge, love, madness and, of course, racism depress ingly repeated over three  generations in Harlem and the Deep South .  Virgilia Griffith So why is Harlem Duets packing the mid-town Tarragon Theatre these days?  It is the acting – the passion that some of Toronto’s best known Caribbean Canadian actors bring to the stage in a telling of age-old social problems that still impact the community today.   The standout star is  Virgilia Griffith ...

Winning viewers for Caribbean Movies in Toronto and Trinidad By Stephen Weir The biggest news for the just completed Caribbean Tales Film Festival (CTFF), took place not at home in Toronto but in Port of Spain, Trinidad. It was announced last week that  Frances-Anne Solomon, the head of the CTFF, and a filmmaker herself had just won the People’s Choice Award at the Trinidad and Tobago International Film Festival Francis-Anne Solomon Ms. Solomon, in addition to spearheading the Toronto festival, has been hard at work all spring and summer completing her own film.    That movie,   HERO -- Inspired by the Extraordinary Life and Times of Ulric Cross ,  was previewed and premiered at the CTFF in Toronto and then rushed down to Port of Spain to be shown in competition in their T&T film festival a week later. The film is the first Trinidad / Canadian feature length film to be premiered and previewed in both country’s keynote festivals in the same ye...

THE WEEKEND:Canadian roots showing in new Black RomCom By Stephen Weir in today's Caribbean Camera When THE WEEKEND opens in the United States later this  fall, audiences there may assume that this Black RomCom movie is American. But one doesn’t have to dig deep to find its Canadian roots. Written and directed by Stella Meghie of Toronto, THE WEEKEND had its world premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) where it was shown four times. Meghie, now based in the US, has made three films in the past three years, and some  of them have made big money in Hollywood. Her new romantic comedy is expected do the same. It is already attracting interest from film distributors on both sides of the border. “Stella Meghie was born in Toronto but we really have to call her Oshawa’s own,” said TIFF's Artistic Director, Cameron Bailey.“ Her new movie is different from the typical Black Romantic Comedy. There is a real Canadian edge to this one.” It's a...