''SLĀV'' is a

Canadian theatre Canada's contemporary theatre reflects a rich diversity of regional and cultural identities. Since the late 1960s, there has been a concerted effort to develop the voice of the 'Canadian playwright', which is reflected in the nationally focused ...

production. It was created by

Béatrice Bonifassi Béatrice "Betty" Bonifassi (born 1971) is a Canadian vocalist based in Montreal. She has a deep, contralto singing voice, sometimes referred to as "masculine",> Montreal’s Beast pairs a famous singer with a beatsmith to the stars”, ''Montr ...

, with

Robert Lepage Robert Lepage (born December 12, 1957) is a Canadian playwright, actor, film director, and stage director. Early life Lepage was raised in Quebec City. At age five, he was diagnosed with a rare form of alopecia, which caused complete hair lo ...

as stage director. The pair launched the show on June 26, 2018, during the

Montreal International Jazz Festival The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal ( en, Montreal International Jazz Festival) is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz fest ...

. ''SLĀV'', billed as "a theatrical odyssey based on slave songs", was met with growing controversy, with protesters accusing it of

cultural appropriation Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from ...

and cultural insensitivity. Musician

Moses Sumney Moses Sumney is a Ghanaian-American singer-songwriter. His self-recorded EP, ''Mid-City Island'', was released in 2014. He released another five-song EP in 2016, titled ''Lamentations''. His first full-length album, ''Aromanticism'', was released ...

cancelled his performance at the festival in protest, saying: The Jazz Festival administrators, in the face of public pressure and the threat of other artists withdrawing, cancelled the remaining performances, all of which had sold out. "Since the beginning of SLĀV performances, the festival team has been shaken and strongly affected by all the comments received," ''L'Équipe Spectra'', which produces the festival, said in a statement to the ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

''. "We would like to apologize to those who were hurt. It was not our intention at all." They gave Bonifassi's decision and the Festival's concerns for public safety as their reasons for cancellation. The creation of the show was the subject of a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

documentary, "Behind the Scenes". In it, Bonifassi spoke about avoiding cultural appropriation and creating "resilience by vocal art". The radio programme aired on July 4, 2018.

References

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References

See also