“There was such a culture shock going from an African country to a Caribbean country,” she said. This experience of mobility fed her desire to create theatre.

She graduated from the University of Lethbridge and now is based in Toronto her family lives in Brampton. Simamba was born in Zambia and lived with her family in various places around the Caribbean before coming to Canada for theatre school. The youth are the best, they’re going to take over the world, and they’re supersmart.” All are welcome, said Simamba, but “Black teens continue to be my main audience for the show. While the production’s Doras were won in the awards’ Theatre for Young Audiences division, this version is being marketed for general audiences. As before, the show is directed by Donna-Michelle St. “Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers” had its world premiere in Toronto in 2019, in a b current production at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, for which Simamba won two Dora awards: for best performance by an individual, and best play.Ī new co-production from Tarragon Theatre and Black Theatre Workshop based on that staging plays live at Tarragon through April 10 (with digital performances from March 22-April 10), and then live in the Studio Theatre at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton from April 26-May 7. Simamba plays Slimm and other characters including his parents, and the story of how he lived and lost his life unfolds. The play’s central character is a 17-year-old Black youth named Slimm, who has just arrived in the afterlife.

“I call the piece a prayer for Black life,” says Makambe K Simamba of her one-person show “Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers.”

Sons lovers