SHE’S NOT SPECIAL
Co-Presented by Nightwood Theatre and Tarragon Theatre
Created and performed by Fatuma Adar
Co-directed by Fatuma Adar and Graham Isador
May 24–28, 2023
Tarragon Theatre (30 Bridgman Avenue)
Approximately 70 minutes
She’s Not Special combines musical theatre and comedic storytelling to explore the pressures of Black Excellence. As a Black Muslim Woman (a triple threat!), creator Fatuma Adar is on a mission to free you from the clutches of exceptionalism and teach you how to relish in the joys of mediocrity.
Co-directed by Adar (Playback’s Artist to Watch) and Graham Isador (The Beaverton, VICE). Adar’s music has been described by CBC Arts as “…equal parts Bo Burnham stand-up set and Pharrell Williams club jam.” After a critically acclaimed digital run at the Next Stage Theatre Festival, She’s Not Special returns to the stage LIVE! (Still, Adar hopes that you come with only moderate expectations… thanks.)
“Leave expectations at the door. We are not putting on a play, we are throwing a party. This is a concert, comedy show, and confessional all in one. Come celebrate your mediocrity with us!”
This presentation is supported by the Department of Canadian Heritage – Canada Arts Presentation Fund (CAPF) .
PRODUCTION TEAM
Drums by Worrell McFarlane
Bass by Evan Poter
Assistant Set and Lighting Design, Associate Projection Design by Skyler James
PRAISE FOR She’s Not Special
“…equal parts Bo Burnham stand-up set and Pharrell Williams club jam.” – CBC Arts
“Satire at its best..give this multi-talented artist a Netflix special already.” – NOW Magazine
“…enormously refreshing. Adar is a major talent.” – Stage door
“She’s Not Special is playful and sharp. It’s so much fun, you even enjoy the sting.” – Istavan Review
Inspired by Fatuma Adar’s She’s Not Special, this is a multi generational conversation circle about the pressures of Black excellence. How do we continue to turn away from white supremacy and the white gaze and toward our own healing? How can we navigate the pressures of having to be better than our white peers while also making room for failure? At this pivotal time when there is more Black work and Black people in artistic leadership, we come together to check in. This is a Black centred event, where we invite those who don’t identify as Black to listen and observe.
Towards Black Averageness: A Conversation Circle
Thursday, May 18, 2023 @ 7pm – 8:30pm
Tarragon Near Space
About the Panelists
Timaj Garad is an Ethiopian-Harari Toronto-based multi-disciplinary storyteller, arts educator, and community organizer using poetry, theatre, and music to bring her stories to life. As an award-winning artist & educator, Timaj has graced over 400 stages and facilitated several arts-based workshops across North America. As Outreach & Access Program Manager at TAC, Timaj has developed and now managers TAC’s Black Arts Program – a funding program for Black artists and Black-led arts organizations – in addition to supporting outreach efforts across all granting programs at TAC. She believes in the transformative power of the arts to build capacity, heal, and strengthen communities.
Andrea Scott‘s play, Eating Pomegranates Naked, won the RBC Arts Professional Award, and named Outstanding Production at the 2013 SummerWorks Festival. Better Angels: A Parable won the SummerWorks Award for Production and was published in 2018. Don’t Talk to Me Like I’m Your Wife won the Cayle Chernin Award for theatre ran at SummerWorks in 2016. 2019 saw her co-written play with Nick Green, Every Day She Rose wow audiences at Buddies in Bad Times. Her play about Viola Desmond, Controlled Damage, had its sold-out world premiere at Neptune Theatre in 2020 and opened at The Grand Theatre in 2023. She won the Magee Diversity Screenwriter’s Award for her first TV script, Dust to Dust. Her dark comedy Bad Habits landed her a job as the Story Editor on The Porter (BET/CBC), which she followed up with snagging a spot pitching her supernatural drama Cassidy Must Die to Netflix. 2021 saw her winning $10,000 from Amazon and the Indigenous Screen Office, pitching her coming- of-age dramedy DONE! She’s just completed working in the writer’s room on the 16th season of Murdoch Mysteries.
Emerjade Simms is a Jamaican-Canadian actor, storyteller and sometimes-director. She is a graduate of the Acting program at the University of Windsor and holds a BFA degree. Emerjade is also a 2016/17 graduate of the Mechanicals program at Factory Theatre. In her career as an actor so far, she has worked with many wonderful people and companies. Select theatre credits: Director; Legacies of Love: a Tribute to bell hooks (Children’s Peace Theatre). Assistant Director; The Flight (Queen Bess/Gargantua/bcurrent). Acting; Redbone Coonhound (Arts Club), Calpurnia (RMTC/NAC), The Mountaintop (Persephone Theatre), 1851: Spirit and Voice (Soulpepper/Myseum), 21 Black Futures: Omega Child (Obsidian/CBC), School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play* (Obsidian/Nightwood). Emerjade enjoys napping in her downtime and loves her mom like cooked food.
Black Out Night is a performance for Black audiences that invites Black theatre-going communities to experience a show for them, by them. Black audiences are invited to join us on Friday, May 26, 2023 at 9PM EDT at Tarragon Theatre.
The spirit of this community-focused evening is to facilitate a supportive environment for culturally-specific conversations dedicated to Black-made work. No one will be turned away from attending Black Out Night. Exclusivity is not the intention of the evening. Similar to all theatre events available for general sale, it is available to any member of the public who wishes to purchase a ticket.
As we’ve designed this event as an affinity space, if you don’t identify as Black, please consider why you would like to attend, what you would be adding to the space and how your attendance is supporting Black communities and creators.
Should you have any questions about Black Out Night please contact Tarragon’s Patron Services and/or our Education and Community Engagement Manager at patronservices@tarragontheatre.com and education@tarragontheatre.com, respectively.
Purchase discounted tickets to Black Out Night at this link!