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A hilarious and heartbreaking stare-down of privilege and oppression

Monice Peter & Adrian Shepherd-Gawinski; Directed by Sedina Fiati and Andrea Donaldson; Set by Michelle Tracey; Costume by Ming Wong; Lighting by Rebecca Picherack; Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann (Nightwood Theatre)
Every Day She Rose

Every Day She Rose

By Nick Green & Andrea Scott

When racial and queer politics collide at the 2016 Toronto Pride parade, two best friends discover that the things that brought them together may now drive them apart. 

After the Black Lives Matter protest at the 2016 Toronto Pride Parade, two friends find their racial and queer politics aren’t as aligned as they thought, and the playwrights behind them must figure out how to write about the fallout.

Cathy Ann, a straight Black woman, and her roommate Mark, a gay white man, came home from the parade with such differing views of what happened and how it affected their own communities. Cathy Ann agrees with the protest that the police presence at the parade doesn’t make her feel safe, while Mark felt safer with them there, especially in the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. Frustrated he can’t see the bigger issue, Cathy Ann questions if she can continue living with Mark. Simultaneously, playwrights Andrea and Nick—who share the same identities as their characters—pause throughout the show to figure out how to work together to tell the story of a significant turning point in a friendship.

Through both sets of dialogue, Every Day She Rose is a powerful exploration of white supremacy, privilege, and patriarchy in supposed safe spaces.

Production History

Every Day She Rose had a public reading at Genderplay in the Buddies Pride Month performance schedule on June 18, 2017 in Tallulah’s Cabaret. It was financially supported by Sky Gilbert’s Cabaret Company and dramaturged by Andy Cheng.

The play was accepted into Nightwood’s Write from the Hip in Fall 2017. The workshop and subsequent reading was in September 2018 directed by Andrea Donaldson and starring Amanda Cordner and Adrian Shepherd-Gawinski.

Every Day She Rose premiered with Nightwood Theatre November 23-December 8, 2019 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto.

Every Day She Rose was one of NOW Magazine’s best Toronto stage shows to see in November 2019.

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