Tawiah Ben M'Carthy is a

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

ian-born

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."Telling stories"
''

Xtra! ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former pr ...

'', September 5, 2012. He is best known for his 2012 play ''Obaaberima'', a one-man play about growing up gay in Ghana.

Biography

Born in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, Ghana, M'Carthy moved to Canada at the age of 14, living first in Merritt,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and later in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. He studied theatre at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

, writing his first play ''The Kente Cloth'' and staging it at Toronto's SummerWorks festival during this time. ''Obaaberima'' had its roots in a poem that he submitted to the Young Creators Unit at

Buddies in Bad Times Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a Canadian professional theatre company. Based in Toronto, Ontario and founded in 1978 by Matt Walsh, Jerry Ciccoritti, and Sky Gilbert, ''Buddies in Bad Times'' is dedicated to "the promotion of queer theatrical ex ...

theatre. The play premiered at Buddies in September 2012, under the direction of Evalyn Parry. He garnered two

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped estab ...

nominations for ''Obaaberima'' in 2013, for both Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role – Play, amid five other nominations for the play. The show won three other Dora Awards, including Outstanding Production of a Play. In 2014, his plays ''Blue Bird'', cowritten with Brad Cook, and ''Black Boys'' with Saga Collectif premiered as

workshop production A workshop production is a form of theatrical performance, in which a play or musical is staged in a modest form which does not include some aspects of a full production. For example, costumes, sets and musical accompaniment may be excluded, or may ...

s."Tawiah M’Carthy"
National Arts Centre He has also acted in other plays, including productions of

Mart Crowley Edward Martino Crowley (August 21, 1935 – March 7, 2020) was an American playwright best known for his 1968 play '' The Boys in the Band''. Biography Crowley was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi. After graduating from The Catholic University of ...

's '' The Boys in the Band'', Kwame Stephens' ''Man 2 Man'', Lanford Wilson's '' Balm in Gilead'', D. D. Kugler and

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 ...

's ''

Love's Labour's Lost ''Love's Labour's Lost'' is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s for a performance at the Inns of Court before Elizabeth I of England, Queen Elizabeth I. It follows the King of Navarre and ...

'', ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' and ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'', and in Maxime Desmons' short film ''Au plus proche''. He was part of the 2014–2015 English Theatre Ensemble at the National Arts Centre, and has also worked with Toronto's Tarragon Theatre and

Obsidian Theatre Obsidian Theatre Company is a Canadian professional theatre company that specializes in works by Black Canadian artists. The company is located in Toronto, Ontario. The declared mandate of the company is a threefold mission: to produce plays, to ...

companies. In 2016, he was cocreator with

Thomas Antony Olajide Thomas Antony Olajide, sometimes also credited as Thomas Olajide, is a Canadian actor from Vancouver, British Columbia.

and Stephen Jackman-Torkoff of ''Black Boys'', a theatrical show about

Black Canadian Black Canadians (also known as Caribbean-Canadians or Afro-Canadians) are people of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin, though t ...

LGBTQ identities which premiered at Buddies in Bad Times before undertaking a national tour. Olajide, M'carthy and Jackman-Torkoff were collectively nominated for Outstanding Ensemble Performance at the Dora Mavor Moore Awards in 2017. In 2018, he performed a revival of ''Obaaberima'' at Buddies in Bad Times. In June 2020, M'carthy performed an excerpt from ''Obaaberima'' as part of the Buddies in Bad Times ''

Queer Pride Inside ''Queer Pride Inside'' is a Canadian television special, which aired June 24, 2020 on CBC Gem. Created by CBC Arts and Buddies in Bad Times as a response to the cancellation of Pride Toronto during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, it presented a vi ...

'' special for CBC Gem. In 2021, he performed on ''

FreeUp! The Emancipation Day Special ''FreeUp! The Emancipation Day Special'' is an annual Canadian television special, which was broadcast for the first time by CBC Gem on August 1, 2020."FreeUp!: This Sunday, join artists across Canada to celebrate Emancipation Day 2021"

CBC Arts CBC Arts (french: Radio-Canada Arts) is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's div ...

, July 27, 2021.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcarthy, Tawiah Living people 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian male stage actors Black Canadian male actors Black Canadian writers Canadian gay writers Canadian gay actors Canadian LGBT dramatists and playwrights Writers from Toronto Male actors from Toronto Ghanaian emigrants to Canada Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian male writers Black Canadian LGBT people Year of birth missing (living people) Gay dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian LGBT people