Webcasts

From February 26 to 28, Théâtre français de Toronto (TfT) presents Nzinga at the Theatre Centre. This work, co-produced by the Centre du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui and the Montreal-based company La Sentinelle, is being staged as part of Black History Month. Only three public performances are scheduled—a unique opportunity to discover this production presented in French with English surtitles.

SYNOPSIS: Born in Congo, Tatiana Zinga Botao grew up in Brussels before moving to Quebec. As an adult, she discovers that she shares her name with a queen who ruled over a vast African territory in the 17th century. Alone on stage, the artist reconstructs the ancestral thread that connects her to her ancestor while following the Congo-Belgium-Canada triangle that she herself has traveled.

Written by Alexis Diamond, Marie Louise Bibish Mumbu, and Tatiana Zinga Botao, Nzinga explores with strength and sensitivity the notions of exile, sovereignty, legitimacy, and transmission. The work affirms a proud and dignified stance, while claiming the place of women—and particularly Black women—in spaces of power, memory, and creation.