Is God Is

https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/30546

In-person event

An NAC presentation of the Obsidian Theatre, Necessary Angel, Canadian Stage production.
Curated by Black Theatre Workshop. Twin sisters Anaia and Racine are on a quest for peace. And they are willing to kill for it. She is a God to her twins, Anaia and Racine — a god of vengeance. And She will only be satisfied when their daddy is very, very dead. The sisters are sent on a quest from the South to a sleepy California desert city to fulfill their...

February 9 - 18, 2023

Babs Asper Theatre 1 Elgin Street Ottawa Canada

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Is God Is

Feb 9 - 18, 2023

Babs Asper Theatre

Oyin Oladejo and Vanessa Sears in Is God Is © Dahlia Katz

is-god-is-black-out-production-image — Oyin Oladejo and Vanessa Sears in Is God Is | Lighting Design by Raha Javanfar; Set Design by Ken Mackenzie; Costume Design by Ming Wong; Video Design by Laura Warren © Elijah Nichols

Theatre Drama

“Is God Is sees fit to bring down the house.” The New York Times

In-person event
English
≈ 90 minutes · No intermission

NAC Premiere

An NAC presentation of the Obsidian Theatre, Necessary Angel, Canadian Stage production.
Curated by Black Theatre Workshop.

Twin sisters Anaia and Racine are on a quest for peace. And they are willing to kill for it.

She is a God to her twins, Anaia and Racine — a god of vengeance. And She will only be satisfied when their daddy is very, very dead.

The sisters are sent on a quest from the South to a sleepy California desert city to fulfill their mother’s command. And the secrets that set fire to their family ties are revealed, allowing us to understand and experience satisfaction through sacrifice, and relief through revenge.

Is God Is is a dark, award-winning tragicomedy that channels Tarantino as much as Sophocles, driven by our sweet, spiteful heroines who are both victims, and vigilantes.

All tickets are $15 for our preview performance on February 9.

Content warning: This play includes depictions of: violence, death, murder, fire, burns, blood. As well as references of domestic violence, familial and generational abuse, and depictions and references of suicide, and emotional abuse by a parent.

Is God Is is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

Black Out night at NAC

On February 17, the evening’s performance of Is God Is will introduce the first of two Black Out nights that will be at the NAC this year. A Black Out is an open invitation to Black-identifying audiences to come and experience performances with their community. The evenings will provide a dedicated space for Black theatregoers to witness a show that reflects the vivid kaleidoscope that is the Black experience. Everyone is welcome at all our shows.

Creating evenings dedicated to Black theatregoers will allow for conversation and participation to be felt throughout the theatre and open the doors for Black-identifying audiences to experience the energy of the NAC with a shared sense of belonging and passion.

Learn more in the program notes ›

Artists

Playwright Aleshea Harris

Playwright
Aleshea Harris

Aleshea Harris’s play Is God Is (directed by Taibi Magar at Soho Rep and Ola Ince at the Royal Court) won the 2016 Relentless Award, an OBIE Award for playwriting in 2017, the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award in 2019 and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. What to Send Up When It Goes Down, a play-pageant-ritual response to anti-blackness, had its critically acclaimed NYC premiere in 2018 (directed by Whitney White and produced by The Movement Theatre Company), was featured in the April 2019 issue of American Theatre Magazine and received a rare special commendation from the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. The play was subsequently re-mounted at Woolly Mammoth, A.R.T., BAM and Playwrights Horizons. Her newest play, On Sugarland (directed by Whitney White) premiered at New York Theatre Workshop in the spring of 2022. Awards: Windham-Campbell Literary Prize, Mimi Steinberg Playwriting Award, Hermitage Greenfield Prize, Horton Foote Playwriting Award, Arts and Letters Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Harris is a two-time MacDowell Fellow and has enjoyed residencies at the Hermitage Artist Retreat, Hedgebrook and Djerassi.

La pièce d’Aleshea Harris, Is God Is (mise en scène par Taibi Magar pour la compagnie Soho Repertory Theatre et Ola Ince au Royal Court Theatre) a remporté le prix Relentless 2016, le prix OBIE de la dramaturgie 2017 et le prix de la dramaturgie Helen Merrill en 2019, et a été finaliste au prix Susan Smith Blackburn. Sa pièce What to Send Up When It Goes Down, conçue comme une célébration et un rituel en réponse au racisme envers les personnes noires, a été saluée par la critique lors de sa première new-yorkaise en 2018 (mise en scène par Whitney White et produite par le Movement Theatre Company), en plus de figurer dans le numéro d’avril 2019 de l’American Theatre Magazine et de recevoir une distinction spéciale aux prix Susan Smith Blackburn. La pièce a été reprise par la suite par les compagnies Woolly Mammoth, A.R.T., BAM et Playwrights Horizons. Sa plus récente pièce, On Sugarland (mise en scène par Whitney White) a été créée au New York Theatre Workshop au printemps 2022. Aleshea Harris a reçu le Prix littéraire Windham-Campbell, le prix de la dramaturgie Mimi Steinberg, le prix Hermitage Greenfield, le prix de la dramaturgie Horton Foote et le prix Arts and Letters en littérature de l’American Academy of Arts and Letters. Elle a pu profiter de deux résidences d’artiste à la MacDowell Colony, ainsi que de retraites artistiques à l’Hermitage (Flor.), à Hedgebrook (Wash.) et à Djerassi (Calif.).

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Director Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu

Director
Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu

Mumbi is an acclaimed theatre creator and director raised in Kenya and Victoria, BC and based in Toronto. She is the Artistic Director of Obsidian Theatre, Canada’s leading creator for Black Art as well as Founder/Artistic director for the experimental theatre company IFT (It’s A Freedom Thing Theatre) Theatre. Recent directing credits, Post Democracy (Tarragon), Is God Is (Obsidian/Canadian Stage/Necessary Angel) Cast Iron (Obsidian/Factory), 21 Black Futures (Obsidian/CBC Arts), Trout Stanley (Factory Theatre), The Brothers Size, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Soulpepper Theatre), We are Proud to Present (UofT Scarborough), and Oraltorio: A Theatrical Mixtape for (Obsidian Theatre/Soulpepper).

Mumbi is also the recipient of many awards including a Canadian Screen Award, a Dora Award, a Toronto Theatre Critics Award, a Pauline McGibbon Award and a Mallory Gilbert Protege Award.

Mumbi est une artiste de théâtre et une metteuse en scène reconnue, qui a grandi au Kenya et à Victoria, C.-B., et qui habite maintenant à Toronto. Elle est directrice artistique de l’Obsidian Theatre, principal lieu de création d’art noir au Canada, ainsi que fondatrice et directrice artistique de la compagnie de théâtre expérimentale IFT Theatre (It’s A Freedom Thing Theatre). Parmi ses récentes mises en scène, mentionnons : Post Democracy (Tarragon), Is God Is (Obsidian, Canadian Stage et Necessary Angel) Cast Iron (Obsidian et Factory), 21 Black Futures (Obsidian et CBC Arts), Trout Stanley (Factory Theatre), The Brothers Size, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Soulpepper Theatre), We are Proud to Present (UofT Scarborough), et Oraltorio: A Theatrical Mixtape (Obsidian Theatre et Soulpepper).

Mumbi est aussi lauréate de nombreux prix, dont le prix des Écrans canadiens, le prix Dora, le prix Toronto Theatre Critics, le prix Pauline McGibbon et le prix Mallory Gilbert Protege.

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