Joseph Jomo Pierre, also credited as Joseph Pierre, is a

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

actor and playwright."Q&A: Joseph Jomo Pierre on hip-hop and Shakespeare"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', February 8, 2013. He is best known for his 2013 play ''Shakespeare's Nigga'', a play which explored

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

by recontextualizing two

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

characters from the plays of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, Aaron from ''

Titus Andronicus ''Titus Andronicus'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593, probably in collaboration with George Peele. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy and is often seen ...

'' and

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

from ''

'', as

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

actually owned by Shakespeare in real life. The play was a shortlisted nominee for the

Governor General's Award for English-language drama The Governor General's Award for English-language drama honours excellence in Canadian English-language playwriting. The award was created in 1981 when the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry or drama was divided. Because the awar ...

at the

2013 Governor General's Awards The shortlisted nominees for the 2013 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on October 2,"Governor General Literary Award finalists announced". ''Vancouver Sun'', October 2, 2013. and the winners were announced on November 13. ...

."Governor General Literary Award finalists announced"
''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'', October 2, 2013. His prior plays include ''Born Ready'', ''BeatDown'' and ''Pusha-Man'', all of which were published by

Playwrights Canada Press Playwrights Canada Press is a Canadian publishing house founded in 1984 by the Playwrights Guild of Canada. It was incorporated in 2000 as an independent company. Notable books *''The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God'', Djanet Sears ( ...

in the anthology ''BeatDown: Three Plays'' in 2006.''Beatdown: Three Plays''

. As an actor, he is best known for roles as Edward Forrest in ''

Intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...

'' and as nurse Jackson Wade in ''

Saving Hope ''Saving Hope'' is a Canadian supernatural medical drama television series set in Toronto in the fictional hospital Hope Zion. The series stars Erica Durance and Michael Shanks. The show's premise originated with Malcolm MacRury and Morwyn Brebn ...

'', and appeared in supporting roles in the films ''

Take the Lead ''Take the Lead'' is a 2006 American drama dance film directed by Liz Friedlander and starring Antonio Banderas as dance instructor Pierre Dulaine, the founder of Dancing Classrooms. It also stars Alfre Woodard, John Ortiz, Rob Brown, Yaya DaCos ...

'', '' Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story'' and ''

Get Rich or Die Tryin' ''Get Rich or Die Tryin'' is the debut studio album by American rapper 50 Cent. It was released on February 6, 2003, by Interscope Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, Eminem's Shady Records, and 50 Cent's G-Unit Records. After signing wi ...

''.

Plays

*''Born Ready a.k.a. Black on Both Sides'' (2006) *''BeatDown a.k.a. Life'' (2006) *''Pusha-Man a.k.a. The Seed'' (2006) *''Shakespeare's Nigga'' (2013)

References

External links

* * Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male stage actors 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Black Canadian male actors Black Canadian writers Male actors from Toronto Writers from Toronto Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to Canada Living people Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian male writers Year of birth missing (living people) {{Canada-playwright-stub