What the Festival: What a year!

Now that 2025 is soon coming to an end and we’ve had a chance to rest and reflect after a very busy and exciting year, I am left feeling very grateful. Grateful that we as an organization were able to accomplish so much this year, and that we were able to overcome obstacles and still find success in producing our annual festival, WTF ‘25 this past September. We couldn’t have done it alone and are so grateful to be a part of a community that has shown up for us when we needed help and continues to motivate us to move forward knowing that our efforts are appreciated by various groups of local strange-making artists and anticipated by our growing audience. 

In 2025, WTF hosted Spring Thing 2.0 in May with the return of our THING ONE and THING TWO cabarets and the addition of our Swap N’Sale costume and props sale. The summer leading into the fall was a total whirlwind. We had the pleasure of launching our Strange Maker Award at the TO Fringe in July and brought creative activation to the SummerWorks Festival’s closing night party in August. We hosted our first late-night cabaret at the Toronto International Buskerfest over the labour day long weekend and participated in the Queen West Arts Crawl with roaming circus acts presented by Hercinia Arts to enhance engagement with patrons and promote our upcoming festival. Amid all this activity, we also held a successful crowd-funding campaign which filled a significant funding gap and somehow planned an entire festival. 

(L to R Meegan Sweet (The Shiniest Piece of Trailer Trash) Pearle Harbour (Strange Maker Showcase) Jonas Trottier and Emma Nelles (Milk Milk Lemonade), Morgan Joy (Peggy’s Place), Anne Alien (The (IM)Possible Cabaret), Animacy Theatre Collective’s Alexandra Simpson and Morgan Brie Johnson (Juice Break)

WTF ‘25 took place from Sep 25 to 27th, 2025 at Youngplace’s Sweet Action Theatre and Small World Music. We had 4 completely sold out shows and a 95% attendance rate overall. Our programming included the world premier of Animacy Theatre Collective’s Juice Break and the multi-talented Morgan Joy’s Peggy’s Place. This year, we also had our first out of town production, Meegan Sweet’s The Shiniest Piece of Trailer Trash from Edmonton and the Strange Maker Award winning production Milk Milk Lemonade performed by Emma Nelles and Jonas Trottier.

Our second annual festival also included the return of our signature Strange Maker Showcase, hosted by Pearle Harbour and the debut of the new (IM)Possible Cabaret intended for the most odd and outrageous acts we could find, hosted by Anne Alien. Our cabarets continue to be a wild display of local strange-making talent including Clown, Puppetry, Drag, as well as Burlesque, Circus and more. These events provide the opportunity where anything can happen. For example, this year’s Strange Maker Showcase included an alien invasion (by Andre The Alien) and the delight of “Millions” an eager-to-play audience member who added much silly surprise to the event. 

(L to R Pearle Harbour, Fox C Shanty, Pinkity Twiniky, Christine Moynihan, Jupiter Lightningstorm, Kanna Worm, Carly Rae Stepson, Anne Alien, Dyce 2 Watch Out 4, Bobby Knauff and Andre the Alien, Joshua Bonnici and Goldy Yason, Conjunctivisis, Jayden Gigliotti, Garden Gnome, Glinda Mercury, Cherry Bomb Photo credit: Alejandro Reyes)

Our community engagement efforts were also a great success in the delivery of our Get Bent: Balloon Twisting Workshop facilitated by Sheelagh Traché, and our Clown and Bouffon: Despair and Hope panel discussion that showed a great level of interest in a deeper exploration of different approaches to Clown as well as an appetite for the opportunity to hear from some of Canada’s most accomplished Clown performers, teachers and directors in terms of their own experiences and insights. 

(L to R. Get Bent Balloon Twisting Workshop participants with workshop facilitator Sheelagh Traché. Clown and Bouffon: Despair and Hope panelists Karen Hines, Heather Marie Annis, John Beal and moderator Justin Miller. Photo Credit: Alejandro Reyes)

We also had exciting Lobby entertainment brought to our audiences by Magician Robert Chan, Puppeteer Bobby Knauff and Drag King Archie Called. New this year, we also hosted a pop-up market on Saturday featuring vendors from Toronto’s Arts Market including Effing Dice (Re Magill) who is the maker of puppets and 3D print materials, and Sonyah Shop, run by Olha Dovzhenko who is a maker of original Lino prints, wool jewelry, stickers and more.

For everything to come together so seamlessly after overcoming funding shortfalls and managing a reduced planning timeline for the festival, is a huge accomplishment. We were fortunate to have the support of a great team of staff, amazing volunteers and our venue and community partners who were truly dedicated to help us ensure that WTF 2025 was a great success. (You can read more about the team involved with WTF ‘25 here.)

As this is our fourth and final article written for Generator, we are grateful for the opportunity to reflect on and share our journey with others and we thank Generator for giving us the soapbox to reach readers. What we set out to do, in creating WTF as a home for Toronto’s strange-making theatre artists, was and still is very ambitious. As much as we have been successful in producing 5 major events to date and forming partnerships with several other local organizations, we still have a long road ahead in order to keep this train running for years to come.

Looking into 2026, the future of WTF is somewhat unclear not out of a lack of commitment to the cause, but in finding more sustainable ways to operate and manage growth. We’ve been incredibly lucky so far to always generate just enough funding to get us where we needed to go, however this has required many hours of unpaid labour and now after 3+ years of dedicated work, burnout. 

We have been fortunate since the very beginning to have had the artistic direction of Byron Laviolette who has been instrumental in our birth, introduction with many community partners and overall success. As Byron has decided to move on from this role, his contributions as WTF’s co-founder will continue to be appreciated and acknowledged in our organization's mission and values. As we bid farewell to Byron, we send best wishes for his future endeavours with much gratitude. 

As Executive Director, my goal for 2026 is to recruit new members to join Strange Maker Collective as the force behind What The Festival and to work towards incorporation so that WTF can benefit from the support and protection of an active and committed board who share a passion for our mission. But for now, after a non-stop year of activity and a lot of fun, time to rest and recharge is necessary. 

We look forward to seeing you again in 2026!

What The Festival: What have you done for me lately?

OMG, have we been busy! 

Like busy beyond what we ever dreamed might happen with WTF. And while that’s amazing, it’s been quite the ride from SPRING THING 2.0 to this point. So, what have you done for me lately? 

In our last post, we talked a little about partnerships, and how we value them amongst some of the most important things we do. That remains true, but we kinda went overboard since then.

First off, we partnered with the Toronto Fringe, and sponsored the very first Strange Maker Award for the best Drag, Clown or Puppetry show at that festival. We saw 17 shows with our amazing jury, featuring past WTF alumni Adam Francis Proulx (The Family Crow - WTF ‘Test Fest’), Srutika Sabu (WTF 25 - Santosh Santosh) and Alexandra Simpson (WTF 24 - Up And Comer Cabaret) 

[Note: Alex (along with Morgan Brie Johnson) are premiering Dora Award Winning Animacy Theatre Collective’s newest show JUICE BREAK with us this year. They kick off the festival’s fun on Thu, Sep 25th at 7:30pm - don’t miss it!]

The winner of the Strange Maker Award was a delightful playful and precocious red-nose clown show called MILK MILK LEMONADE, and they were given a $500 cash prize, as well as a spot at WTF 25 (They’re on Sat, Sep 27th at 7:30pm, so get your tickets before they sell out!) We are so happy with how this rollout went, and are excited to offer it again next year with the Toronto Fringe.

Next we found out we didn’t get one of the grants we rely on to keep WTF alive…so after we moped and cried a little, then put on our big girl/boy pants and ran a crowd funding campaign!  

Our FILL THE GAP fundraiser was an opportunity to speak our truth - that it’s a very hard time for arts organizations, and with rising costs, competing interests and a world seemingly growing angrier by the day. We also talked about how committed we remain to making sure there are bright spots of joy, delight and strangeness for people to gather, celebrate and play!

And it seemed to resonate, because we raised over 7k through the kindness of 55+ donors! 

After this, Byron left the province (no correlation, lol) to travel to Edmonton for their International Fringe Festival where the staff and team there, led by Murray Utas and Megan Dart, welcomed him with open arms and an onion cake - if you know,  you know…

This continued a partnership that began last year, where we encountered THE SHINIEST PIECE OF TRAILER TRASH by Meegan Sweet, who will be bringing an updated version of the show to WTF on Fri, Sep 26th at 7:30pm, and since it’s all about a raccoon, we know Torontians will love it! (We sure do.) 

During this time, we were invited to activate the 35th anniversary party for Summerworks at Factory Theatre. True to form, we staffed this event with a who’s who of past strange-makers, including Alexander Mantia (WTF 24 - The Zucchini Club), Andrew Gaboury (Thing One - Spring Thing 2.0), Dank Sinatra (WTF 24 - Don’t Drag Me Down Cabaret) and Snackbaby Thiccums (WTF 24 - Up And Comer Cabaret). 

When Byron finally returned to us, we had the pleasure of running the first ever, 18+, late nite cabaret at Toronto International BuskerFest for Epilepsy. It was an event to remember for sure, full of beer, bears, Beyoncé and a bra full of lasers!! The incredible performers were led by Jesse Buck (WTF 24 - Strange Maker Showoff) and featured Randy Boots (Thing Two - Spring Thing 2.0), Fleur Fantasie (Thing Two - Spring Thing 2.0), as well as newcomer Molly Kewl who we had seen at the fun and frantic CosGay event at Buddies in Bad Times. 

And so here we are! 

We have one more event before WTF 25 - this time with the lovely people at the Queen West Arts Crawl, where we’ll be joined by Hercinia Arts (WTF 24 - Strange Maker Showcase) who will be roving and rambling through the crowd as two of their signature characters: The Mosquito and The Starfish! We’ll be in Trinity Bellwoods Park (just a hop, skip and and a jump from our home at Youngplace - 180 Shaw St. - from 3pm to 6pm on Sat, Sep 20th. 

THEN WE ARE (FINALLY) RUNNING A FESTIVAL!!!

And have we got a line up planned. As we mentioned, we have JUICE BREAK, MILK MILK LEMONADE, THE SHINIEST PIECE OF TRAILER TRASH, plus Morgan Joy (Thing Two - Spring Thing 2.0) is bringing her puppet whirlwind PEGGY’S PLACE on Thu, Sep 25th @ 9pm. 

WTF 25 also sees the return of our STRANGE MAKER SHOWCASE (Fri, Sep 26th @ 9pm) hosted by the nation's premiere tragicomedienne Pearle Harbour (WTF ‘Test Fest’ and WTF 24 - Post Drag Race Drag Panel), plus the brand new, totally oddball [IM]POSSIBLE CABARET(Sat, Sep 27th @ 9pm) hosted by one of CosGay’s own hosts Anne Alien!

We’ve also got a wild and wonderful workshop - GET BENT (Sat, Sep 27th from 3pm-5pm) with Sheelagh Traché aka. The Balloon Girl. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity costs only $65 -materials included - and focuses on how you can transform balloons into hats, wigs, dresses and more! Perfect for audiences and artists alike, learn how to transform helium holders into haute couture! 

As for our panel, this year the topic is CLOWN & BOUFFON: DESPAIR & HOPE and it is stacked with some of Canada’s most recognized artists who will dig deep into the contemporary state of these art forms, how they deal with despair and hope in their work and the stories they tell, and how they understand their place amidst it all. This event is FREE (Sat, Sep 27th from 5pm-6pm), is hosted by Justin Miller with panelists Karen Hines (Pochsy, Mump and Smoot), John Beale (Ecole Philippe Gaulier, Randolph Academy) and Heather Marie Annis (Morro and Jasp, Therapeutic Clown). 

Then there’s another amazing energy exchange, with WTF hosting an ARTS MARKET POP-UP (Sat, Sep 27th from 4:30pm to 7:30pm) that will feature some of their best and most bizarre vendors. If you’re looking for that perfect surprise for your crush, a holiday gift for your cool aunt, or even a special something just for you, we’ve got you covered! 

Lastly, but absolutely not least, and in the spirit of partnerships, we are welcoming THREE new team members to our WTF family. Claire Whitaker joins us as Marketing and Outreach Manager, Sabrina Gomes as Patron Services Coordinator, and Jenny Serwylo as Associate Producer. [Ok, so Jenny actually stepped in and helped us at WTF 24 when someone couldn’t make it because of a fall and…she’s official now!] We also have PEGGY’S PLACE’s Morgan Joy rounding out the crew as the Workshop Organizer for Pedro Fabião’s ‘Effortless Clown’ workshop that will take place immediately after the festival. 

So, what have we done lately? A lot! And for who? Well, hopefully for all those who love and enjoy strange-making work, and believe that the world is a better place because of it. 

For more info about WTF 25, and to book your tickets, check out www.wtfestival.ca/now and join us for smiles, strangeness and of course, popcorn! 

Companion Piece to The Art of Being a Ding Dong - Snippets from Artistic Leaders

Over the spring/summer months in 2024, I began reaching out to artistic leaders and asking them the very vulnerable question: “think of a moment where you didn't handle conflict/harm responsibly - what would you tell yourself now?”. I had some very wonderful conversations with humans from across the industry. I used the term “artistic leaders” loosely, so not just artistic directors, but instructors, production managers, stage managers, general managers, mentors - essentially anyone who manages a group of people. 

I asked those I reached out to to not be too polished, to speak from the heart, to include those “umm’s” and draft-speak, and simply offer a minute of vulnerability. Terrifying huh? But they did it! 

I began gathering these moments because a big block that appears during conflict/harm reduction is the idea of a person being a “bad person” because they caused harm. It’s caused me to go down to routes: I either give up, think I’m horrible, and cry until my eyes are raisins and my cheeks grow moss (not super helpful to the other person), or I think “there’s no way I could have done that because I’m a gOoD pErsOn and therefore am incapable of harm” (which leads to gaslighting, denial, and again, not super helpful to the other person). I chose these people to reach out to because they have done so many wonderful things in their communities, so if they are capable of mistakes or causing harm, maybe the rest of us are too. Accountability is a learned skill, not a trait we’re born with. It takes work, practice, and a tonne of humility. Many of the moments they share also reflect times when they went against their own principles and values because of stress or external influence. As we move towards a more embodied understanding of leadership, discovering tactics that keep us grounded in principles, despite all that stress, is deeply important. Embodied leadership isn’t simply about taking a course, or thinking the thoughts, it’s about a deep, mental, and physical practise that allows us to continue growing and transforming into a person who can remain principled in their actions, even when trauma and stress want to veer us away. 

Thank you to the wonderful people who contributed. You are doing such a great service by showing your bruises and scrapes, and it is so valued. Thank you as well to the folks I spoke with “off the record” who didn’t yet feel ready to share their stories publicly, but took the time to reflect on building accountability skills. 

This piece is a companion piece to: The Art of Being a Ding Dong

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Keith Barker

Keith Barker is a Métis playwright, actor, and director from Northwestern Ontario, and the current Director of the Foerster Bernstein New Play Development Program at the Stratford Festival. He is a former artistic director at Native Earth Performing Arts, and former theatre program officer for the Canada Council for the Arts.

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Yolanda Bonnell

(They/She) is a Queer, 2 Spirit Ojibwe, South Asian mixed-race multi-Dora nominated storyteller/theatre maker. She has just completed her first full length young adult novel and she proudly bases her arts practice in Anishinaabe methodologies, working towards disability justice in theatre.

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Jill Carter

Professor Bird Brain (a.k.a.Jill Carter ) is a mixed blood (Anishinaabe-Ashkenazi) theatre maker and educator based in Tkaron:to.

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Rodney Diverlus

Rodney is an art maker and creator.  They are living today for sunset picnics, and grooving to the latest Amapiano track with a balanced sativa on hand, and teeth-rotting lollipop in the other.

Sarah/SGS, VP of Programming joined the Arts Commons team in 2023. Prior to her move to Calgary, she was the Artistic Producer for the National Creation Fund (NAC). In her spare moments she continues to co-steward the historic Birchdale, direct and dramaturg for the theatre. SGS holds her Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from Queen’s University.

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Aria Evans

is a queer, award winning interdisciplinary artist and intimacy professional who’s practice spans dance, theatre and film. Advocating for inclusion and the representation of diversity, Aria uses their artistic practice to question the ways we can coexist.

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Sarah Garton Stanley

Sarah Garton Stanley (SGS) is a cultural strategist, creative leader, and national voice in the evolving story of Canada. She is also a theatre rat which has come in useful in a myriad of ways. She works across disciplines to spark meaningful change, champion new voices, and imagine bold futures. From theatre to think tanks, her work asks: What do we value, and how do we live it out together?

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Martin Julien

Martin is an artist and instructor in Toronto. He loves working with younger people, older people, and everybody else.

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Crystal Lee

Crystal Lee (she/her) is a Chinese-Canadian theatre practitioner originally from northern New Brunswick. She’s passionate about empowering new ways to collaborate in art making through technical leadership. Crystal currently works at Why Not Theatre as their Director of Production and Technical, leading many of their large-scale, international projects.

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Richard Lee

Richard Lee is an Award-winning actor, fight director, sound designer and theatre educator, and theatre producer. Always grateful for challenges, Richard embraced his love of all things based in movement, sound and being bossy, which have led him on many interesting journeys.

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Sean Lee

Sean is the Director of Programming at Tangled Arts + Disability, and someone who enjoys being overdressed at events.

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desirée leverenz

desirée is an artist: she is a thinker and a doer. her brain dreams of ways to create art that shows how we can live together in a way that is filled with more depth, more fullness, and more spirit. she makes plays in her backyard, in theatres across Tkaronto, and at the university of toronto where she is a professor.

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Sage Lovell

Sage Lovell is a Deaf multidisciplinary artist who likes to work their magic, using different art mediums to shift perspectives and spaces.

Sage’s Response:

Breathe. Take a pause. Feelings are valid. Feelings are also temporary. Acknowledge your feelings and unpack why you feel this way. Take your time. Ask for a break. Breathe. Breathe in. Breathe out. Ask for clarity. Avoid jumping to conclusions and gather facts. Remember, feelings are valid but they are not always logical. Breathe.

It's okay to be messy. It's okay to be vulnerable. It's okay to ask for boundaries. It's okay to feel. Breathe

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Jiv Parasam

Jivesh (Jiv) Parasram is a multidisciplinary theatre artist and cultural worker currently based on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations -- also known as Vancouver, BC. He is the founding Artistic Producer of the Internationally acclaimed socio-political collective, Pandemic Theatre - and the current Artistic Director of Rumble Theatre.

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Mike Payette

Born in Tiotià:ke (Montréal), Quebec, Mike has worked as a director, actor and educator for many years, and in theatres from coast to coast. As an actor, he has performed with some of the country’s finest companies like The Citadel, Vertigo Theatre, Manitoba Theatre for Young People, Banff Centre, Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland, Repercussion Theatre, Segal Centre, Centaur Theatre, The Grand, Factory Theatre, Neptune Theatre, and the National Arts Centre, among others.

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Luke Reece

Luke Reece is an internationally renowned spoken word poet, a playwright, producer, director and educator. He is the Associate Artistic Director of Soulpepper Theatre, and a lover of both prehistoric and modern-day Raptors.

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Jenna Rodgers

Jenna is an award winning director and dramaturg who currently spends her days worrying about Calgary’s inconsistent ability to demonstrate collective responsibility in times of crisis while trying to raise two small creative humans.

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Marcel Stewart

Marcel Stewart is a father, artist, facilitator, and dope wordsmith who loves vacuuming the house while listening to the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack. He is artistic director of b current Performing Arts and one of the co-curators of FOLDA.

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David Yee

david yee is a playwright and artistic director. he lives in toronto but, all things considered, would rather be in sausalito.

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This campanion piece to The Art of Being a Ding Dong was compiled by Eva Barrie

Upcoming Grant Deadlines 2025

Looking for grant deadlines for 2025? We've put together a big list to help you stay on top of key funding opportunities. This project was compiled by our intern, Macarena Coronado Harman, who joins us this season through the University of Toronto – Performance and Cultural Arts Organization Internships. While this isn't an exhaustive list of every grant out there, it's a pretty comprehensive resource to get you started!

“I coulda did Halle’s hair in The Little Mermaid,” says Arlette Pender, Kitchen Beautician Turned Hairstylist to the Stars

This is second of two reflection posts made by Karen Lee on behalf of The Black Pledge about the organisation and the current state of anti-Blackness in the Toronto theatre scene.

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Arlette Pender, courtesy Roshan Spottsville

I started doing hair for $12 so I could be paying for my dance classes. So I like to say I’ve been a business woman since I was 12. Miss Arlette not only financed her jazz and pro class dance lessons in Brooklyn, but graduated beauty school, garnered a list of celebrity clients, moved to Arizona, and founded HAIRLOKS by Arlette, a natural hair care studio with her own product line and training program. My Hair is Beautiful, her non-profit movement, offers workshops and mentorships for girls ages 5-13. CURLYLOKS, is a community service to educate, train and help mothers of all ethnicities care for & style their African American or bi-racial children’s hair and skin. From kitchen beautician at 12 years old, Miss Arlette is now a Master Hair Care Pioneer, beautifies celebrity clients, is published in Essence Magazine, and is the author of A Suite Business: How to Obtain and Operate a Salon Suite.

Miss Arlette, was flown in from Arizona to Toronto, to be Adrienne C. Moore’s personal hairstylist for her character Det. Kelly Duff, in Pretty Hard Cases, CBC. I processed Adrienne’s hair every morning in 18 minutes. So seamless were Miss Arlette’s hair pieces, weaves and extensions that Production didn’t even realize that what they were seeing was not entirely Adrienne C. Moore’s real hair. Miss Arlette had to problem-solve, reportedly losing sleep while enduring hostility from the key on Pretty Hard Cases:

“In Season 2, they wanted Adrienne’s hair in tight ponytails or a bun. I was up all night trying to figure out how I was gonna get Adrienne’s hair into a bun because her sides and her back are cut very short. So, I had a wig I was trying to design…I asked one of the assistant hair stylists to help me cut the wig into a bob. And oh, my goodness! It was a big thing. She told the key…The key took me outside and she reprimanded me like I was a young child. And I was like well, if that wasn’t protocol, all you had to say was don’t do it, but she reprimanded me like I was a young child.”

While negotiating this hostility, here's how Miss Arlette delivered:

“Girl, I got her hair down in a rubber band, then I pinned these braids onto the back to make a bun and it looked awesome! And I was very pleased…Girl that was the hardest hair I did. Adrienne asked, “What kind of sorcery are you doing right here?” because I couldn’t blow dry her hair. She didn’t want any heat on her hair so I had to figure it out. ”

Even though Miss Arlette is a Master Hair Care Pioneer, specializing in undetectable hair pieces and hair texturing, she needed to be licensed to work on Pretty Hard Cases. The fact that she does not work with chemicals was irrelevant…going over to Canada, they were trying to make it an issue because they have a union… Skilled hair and makeup artists like Miss Arlette, face barriers getting into film and television unions. 

The George Floyd awakening impacted film, TV, and theatre in Canada and the United States, sparking many panels on anti-Black racism, DEIB interventions and surveys. One such panel, The Future of Equity in Hair and Make Up - Pt 2, features panelist Sarah Koppes, HOD Film and Television Stylist and Chair of Hair Department. She confirms that to become a permittee, you need 60 days plus a license…then you need 90 days on a production to become an IATSE member. IATSE stands for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada.

Angela Moore, the panel moderator, UBCP/ACTRA Executive Board Member, and Chair of the BIPOC Committee proposes, there could be a category that speaks to Barbers specifically that would allow them to be members within the department and not require makeup skills. 

Makeup artists don’t need a license. For all we know they could have trained on an Etch A Sketch, a disheveled Barbie or kid siblings. If you have ever been made to look like an ashy corpse, inexplicably blackened like some non-verbal Freudian slip or turned into a golliwog with watermelon lipstick too pink for dark skin, then you have felt these microoppressions deep in your craw.

Here are some Black hair basics: When our hair gets moisture in it, it swells up (Miss Arlette). Education would let some union hairstylists know that a fine-toothed comb and a twist out do not a happy marriage make. Or that a spray bottle of water should not be used within a 20-mile radius of a perm or hair styled with a pressing comb. Or that you cannot just shave a Black woman’s hairline to offset a jacked up wig placement.

This is what happens when folx don’t see colour.

We are the ponies that dance to make the man the money.
We are what brings in the money. (Samantha Walkes)

Shadrach, Gordon. “Brace,” 2022.  Toronto History Museum, Toronto. 

…shaving the face of a BIPOC individual versus shaving the face of someone who has very fine Caucasian hair is quite different. There are a lot of problems that can happen when people aren’t shaved properly. 

To see a makeup artist pull out a makeup bag that says Black on it is not cool. (Angela Moore)

I’ve walked into hair and makeup. You see how dark I am. Somebody has put baby powder on me, so I’m not going to look like anything but a corpse if you do that. 

If you’re not comfortable working on Black hair or Black skin, get someone who is. (Viv Leacock, actor) 

Just because you’ve been doing it a long time doesn’t mean you’re good at it. (Roger Cross, actor and producer) 

From: Panel: The Future of Equity in Hair and Makeup - Pt 1,

Shadrach, Gordon. “Sustain 2,” 2022. Toronto History Museum, Toronto. 

“So now I have to go on camera…I look exactly the way that I did 50 seconds ago and I have to pull it out of my ass to be the best new character. Whereas, you know, Miss Thing got three hours to prep and has a new hairdo and has a new look…and all these little details that influence the role. It’s also just proper human treatment, right? Like, why would you…have my colour in the bottom drawer in the bottom of the bucket and don’t even know that you need to mix that for me and that maybe I am three shades and not one. I just want even skin y’all. I just want even skin. I don’t have training in hair or makeup. They do, yet I am doing the work. There has actually been physical damage as well and also, a lot of trauma has gone on. ”

 (Mariah Inger, actress, and both ACTRA Montreal and National’s Chair of DEIB.) Shaping Black Characters on Screen: Hear from Canada's Top Black Hair and Makeup Pros.

Discrimination has been widely reported among BIPOC actors in film, TV, and theatre, who do not enjoy the same access to or treatment by skilled hair and makeup professionals as their white counterparts. It’s not just Black, it’s Indigenous and Asian people are having the same issues. People who are multi-ethnic, biracial are having the same issues in their hair and their makeup, our stunt performers…(Angela Moore). In December 2022, ACTRA filed a Hair and Makeup grievance against the Canadian Media Producers Association and their French counterpart, Association québécoise de la production médiatique, for violating protections guaranteed under the Human Rights Code. 

Black and texturized hair is not a requisite component of standard cosmetology training or licensing. The fact that Milady Standard Natural Hair Care and Braiding, is a separate textbook from Milady Standard, the holy book of cosmetology, is a case in point. IATSE Canada introduced a free weekend course called Black Hair Education in an attempt to address pervasive gaps in education. Mykaël Jackman, a Black, Red-Seal Hairstylist / Barber / Educator / Certified Teacher, taught the Saturday March 25, and Sunday March 26, 2023 course. He is an instructor at the Durham Hairstylist Academy, with 30 years’ experience. The course synopsis posted by IATSE Canada Local 822 reads:

This course will help to demystify some of the art of manipulating textured hair for a variety of styling purposes. It is about building knowledge and skills in the areas of product use, braiding techniques and silk-press styling as well as many additional tips and tricks. The students will learn how to identify various curl patterns, which products to utilize, how to perform a number of hair braiding extension techniques, how to utilize the hot-comb and flat iron to achieve the popular silk press results/dreadloc formation skills and black hair techniques for styling.

This demystification initiative is being funded by the Canada Performing Arts Workers Resilience Fund (CPAWRF). A cursory Google search at Skilled Trades Ontario, on how long it takes to become a hairstylist reveals:

Generally, the time-frame to become competent in the trade of Hairstylist is 3,500 hours (approximately two years) consisting of 3,020 hours of on-the-job work experience and 480 hours of in-school training.

480 hours of technical training is about 16 weeks long. A successful certifying exam would result in a Certificate of Qualification renewable annually. While the IATSE Black Hair Education efforts toward bringing hair professionals up to speed on Black hair are much-needed and long overdue, [1]one of these things is not like the other. The multitudes of our tender and fabulous natural Black hair, protective tresses, loctitian tactics and silk presses, can. not. be. learnt. in. one.  weekend.

 (Also, capital “B” for Black people please, IATSE.)

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[1]Cooney, Joan, et al. Joe Raposo and Jon Stone. "One of These Things (Is Not Like the Others).” Sesame Street, Season 1, Episode 1, “Gordon Introduces Sally to Sesame Street.” National Educational Television, November 10, 1969.

Before ACTRA filed a grievance against the CMPA, The Black Pledge was created by Sedina Fiati, Alicia Richardson, Chiamaka Glory, Diane Roberts, Jajube Mandiela, Janelle Cooper, Joella Crichton, Rita Shelton-Deverell, and Samantha Walkes. This multi-hyphenate collective of theatre professionals is committed to improving the experiences of Black actors in live performance and live performance spaces, and to assist live arts organizations in dismantling structural injustice against Black performers. The Black Pledge aims to address issues of incompetence and subsequent inequity in hair and makeup by centring Hiring & Casting as one of the CAPACITY-BASED COMMITMENTS while ensuring Appropriate Hair, Makeup, Costume, and Lighting Provisions. Five Theatre groups including 2b theatre company, Neworld Theatre, Nightwood Theatre, Shakespeare in the Ruff, and Stratford Festival have signed with the Black Pledge, to right the wrongs committed, enforce equity and crush structural injustice.

Samantha Walkes, known for Nettie in The Color Purple, Neptune Theatre, Elle Monteiro in Cross, Amazon Prime/Paramount, and Rose in Kings of Napa, on OWN, recalls a fully Black hair trailer. On the FTW (for the win) end of the spectrum, Walkes had an affirming experience on Cross and Kings of Napa, the opposite of:

lack of imagination and lack of intentionality. Rather, I remember soca was playing, Motown, reggaeton, 80s R&B, old skool 80s, slow jams. Before they even touched our hair, they had created an environment…I felt rejuvenated every time I left the trailer rather than depleted…I was having to metre how much capacity I had left after these experiences, then do a whole show…I was a theatre baby…It was always do your own hair, especially in theatre. 

Black actors have reported experiences ranging from hateration to hair loss, damage and traction alopecia. Incompetence from structural inequity in hair and makeup should not result in on-the-job injury or illness. Jenn Paul, prioritizes safety and equity in her role as the ACTRA National Director: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, film producer, and creative. She puts it this way:

You would never hire an unqualified gun wrangler or an unqualified stunt coordinator. Safety is number one. So why when it comes to hair and makeup, do Productions feel that it is perfectly all right to hire someone who’s not qualified to do the job? 

Actors and hair stylists would like to experience more Black joy in live performance spaces and less depletion. On May 19, 2023, ACTRA and the CMPA settled the Hair and Makeup Grievance in arbitration. Jenn Paul says, there was goodwill on all sides. Everyone recognizes that it’s needed.

The Black Pledge recently launched Beyond Black Squares Anti-Racism Workshop Series. The first workshop was directed toward directors, coaches and choreographers on how to effectively work with Black artists and arts workers. True to their intersectional and inclusive ethos, the Black Pledge Collective was sure to hold space for D/deaf artists, arts workers and those among the Black diversity spectrum, with ASL interpretation and live captioning to boot. 

The workshop was sold out, with participants from across the racial spectrum and Deaf participants as well. The material consisted of anti oppression 101, an overview of the history of Black theatre in Canada and a case study. We found that the case study part of the workshop had a lot of engagement and seemed to be where participants wanted more time. As well, the workshop ignited a spark of curiosity for participants to learn more about Black artists and our work. We look forward to more workshops and to animating the Discord for workshop alumni. (Sedina Fiati)

Black artists and arts workers sometimes wish we could bypass some of the experiences that make anti-racism workshop series necessary. Miss Arlette experienced wonder, expansion, and connection on Pretty Hard Cases. However, she reports feeling resentment from the Head of Department for her higher rate of pay in American dollars, her unmatched hair expertise, and her Blackness. No. Wait! The HOD’s whiteness. Miss Arlette found herself shrinking away from the trailer and listening to gospel music, Jessica Reedy, From the Heart, and Marvin Sapp, Never Would Have Made It, to make it through. Miss Arlette recalls a moment when she felt her personal safety was endangered:

“I was sitting down in front of the door. I was sitting close to set. We had worked nearly 16 hours this day. She [Key stylist, HOD] made a stabbing motion at my head with the back of her rat tail comb. And one of the cameramen witnessed it and said, “that’s not nice.”  She said, “Oh, I was joking.” I went outside and called the producer. I said, “if I woulda done that, y’all would have gotten rid of me.” They would have fired me and called me an angry Black woman…”You guys are looking for a lawsuit because that’s threatening.””

This alarming scenario, as well as the experience cited earlier where Miss Arlette reports being reprimanded like a young child by the HOD, highlights the racism, depletion and precarity Black women face on the job. In Season 3, Miss Arlette had the benefit of Sedina Fiati’s support and enforcement of the tenets of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, in her role as Associate Producer on Pretty Hard Cases. Fiati recalls:

“Working with Miss Arlette was an absolute pleasure. She was a favourite of the cast and crew due to her humour, as well as the way she took a genuine interest in everyone she interacted with. During a set visit with a Black community group, Miss Arlette also shared knowledge about Black hair care and styling. It was a gift to spend time with her and for her to style my hair. I’m still using the knowledge she shared about hair care.”

Miss Arlette recollects:

“You know she has a head full of beautiful, thick hair. It’s so long…But Sedina’s not a hair girl, you know what I mean? She’s gonna pin those braids up with her undercut, right? ...Sedina was there as a voice of reason and helpful in me understanding the film world and the culture of it all. Sedina and I had many therapeutic conversation transfers during the time that I took during my lunch hours caring for her hair. In my opinion, her position was and is needed in high level and pressure jobs like the film industry to help the cast and crew members feel heard and represented. I loved spending time with Sedina.”

A Word on Mermaids

Many of us felt rejuvenated when we watched Halle Bailey shine in The Little Mermaid (2023). 

Halle, as Ariel, is stunning. Her skin glows. Her voice is fluid, out of this world. Her hair is a character. Down to her foot dem pretty! All the BIPOC actors in this film look flawless. Oscar nominated Camille Friend, head of the hair department, spent $150,000 on Halle’s 24-inch locs. Halle has had locs since she was 5 years old and has kept them despite the industry persistently encouraging her to cut them. Friend, "The Little Mermaid" Hairstylist, who has worked on The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) and Captain Marvel (2019), shares,

The process of creating the iconic red-haired princess took 12-14 hours. If we take hair and wrap it around her locs, we don’t have to cut them and we don’t have to color them…It’s three shades of red…I’m not guesstimating, but we probably spent at least $150,000 because we had to redo it and take it out.

Miss Arlette attests,

I coulda did that…Black Panther and Bridgerton? That right there is my flow. I coulda did Halle’s Hair in The Little Mermaid.

Miss Arlette wants to keep stepping through doors Camille Friend helped open. HAIRLOKs by Arlette products, training and outreach initiatives empower girls, stylists and salon owners to envision this world. Her celebrity clients, including Kelis Jones, members of the WNBA, Major League Baseball, and Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, and her book, model this world. 

One of the Black Pledge commitments for theatre, opera and dance organizations is, Increasing Black representation beyond tokenization. Representation is difficult for those wholly invested in whiteness and white supremacy. It seems that BIPOC folx often cannot just go where white folx have boldly gone, even when said white folx have less qualifications; thereby but for, in some cases, white bonding, exclusionary Eurocentric training and certification practices, and, of course, hard work…just not as hard as Black/BIPOC people as systemic racism would have it. The complaints are continuous when the melanated dare to take up spaces reserved for white people, with straight backs and the multitudes of our Blacktastic hair, natural or otherwise. 

Folx had the nerve to complain about Halle Bailey playing Arielle. As if we do not have mermaids in Afrikan, Caribbean, Indigenous, Asian, AAPI, Oceanian and South American folklore to include Moana-Nui-Ka-Lehua, Mami Wata and Yemoja. As if we do not know how to swim. Jasmine Mans’ poem excerpted from “The Little Mermaid,” in Black Girl Call Home, is instructive:

When they tell the Black girl

She can’t play mermaid

ask them,

what their people know

about holding their breath

underwater.

Karen Lee

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