CBC Gem’s 21 Black Futures:
Georgeena
By Djanet Sears - read note from Sears here
Directed by Weyni Mengesha
Presented by Obsidian Theatre
Featuring cast member Virgillia Griffiths
DGC AWARDS NOMINATED GEORGEENA FOR BEST SHORT FILM, 2021
A bride motors down a highway in her wedding dress, struggling to make sense of what led her to this moment. Her veil lies crumpled on the back seat. Her cellphone keeps ringing, and the car in her rear view appears to be following her. Could it be Mathiew, her groom?
This short play was inspired by real events. It was also prompted by a two-decade-old study by clinical psychologist Maya McNeilly out of Duke University Medical Center which suggested that “racist provocation” could lead to damaging physical and emotional symptoms. As McNeilly put it, “It is well-documented that racism has negative social, economic and political consequences on African Americans, but the direct effects of racism on physical and emotional health have only begun to be explored."
This story continues that exploration and contemplates the effects of the terrorism of overt and implicit white supremacy on the physical and emotional life of one particular Black woman: Georgeena.
“Sears has written a play that grabs you and leaves you breathless.”
”Weyni Mengesha’s tight direction and Virgilia Griffith’s stunning performance, left me winded for all the right reasons”
“As directed by Weyni Mengesha, Artistic Director of Soulpepper, Georgeena comes off as the most dramatic, most tightly written of the plays in Season 2. The image of Georgeena attempting to control her speeding car while also attempting to control her seething emotions gives the play a heightened tension that never lets up. Virgilia Griffith, who is in unremitting close-up throughout, gives a supremely powerful performance —a sympathetic, finely detailed depiction of Georgeena’s inner turmoil as feelings of loss, outrage, betrayal and fear surge through her mind”
