How Jab Jab Saved the Pretty Mas
by Paulina O’Kieffe-Anthony and Natassia Parson-Morris
February 7th & 8th @ 7:30 PM
The annual Toronto Caribbean Carnival festivities are in full swing and best friends Iesha and Giselle are ready to live their best life as they prepare to play mas in the Grand Parade. With the new #Respectdemas movement in full force and the influence of a respected elder sharing stories of Carnival history and culture, the two friends find themselves navigating their relationship through opposing views of carnival culture, leaving them to wonder if their friendship will even survive the end of the Carnival season. How Jab Jab Saved the Pretty Mas brings together the magic and history of traditional Carnival from Trinidad with the modern diasporic Mas Culture from Toronto to help two, second-generation Caribbean women find their own identities and power as they look back in order to move forward.
About the Playwrights
Paulina O’Kieffe-Anthony and Natassia Parson-Morris are recognized artists in their respective fields of spoken word poetry and dance. Paulina is a member of the League of Canadian Poets, and has been featured in When Sisters Speak on stage at the St Lawrence Centre for the Performing Arts (2017; 2019) and produced the Words by the Water Literary Festival. Natassia has performed internationally with Ballet Creole and has been an active performer/choreographer in the Caribbean arts and culture sector in Toronto, choreographing and performing with Pan Fantasy Steelband for the annual Pan Alive competition and the annual Carabram Multicultural Festival.