Yolanda Bonnell is a Canadian actress and playwright. She is most noted for her play ''Bug'', which was a

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual List of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. Th ...

nominee for English-language drama at the

2020 Governor General's Awards The shortlisted nominees for the 2020 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on May 4, 2021, and the winners were announced on June 1.Anishinaabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawat ...

member of the

Fort William First Nation Fort William First Nation ( oj, Animkii Wajiw) is an Ojibwa First Nation reserve in Ontario, Canada. The administrative headquarters for this band government is south of Thunder Bay. , the First Nation had a registered population of 1,798 peopl ...

near

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population i ...

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 C ...

and a graduate of

Humber College The Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, commonly known as Humber College, is a public College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1967, Humber has two main campuses: the Humber North c ...

's theatre school, she had her first significant acting role in a 2016 production of

Judith Thompson Judith Clare Thompson, OC (born September 20, 1954) is a Canadian playwright who lives in Toronto, Ontario. She has twice been awarded the Governor General's Award for drama, and is the recipient of many other awards including the Order of Canad ...

's play ''The Crackwalker''.

Career

Her subsequent roles included a 2018 production of Kim Senklip Harvey's ''Kamloopa: An Indigenous Matriarch Story'', and a 2019 production of

Marie Clements Marie Clements (born January 10, 1962) See p. 147. is a Canadian Métis playwright, performer, director, producer and screenwriter. Marie was founding artistic director of urban ink productions, and is currently co-artistic director of red diva pr ...

's ''The Unnatural and Accidental Women''. Her play ''bug'' was staged at various theatre festivals, including the annual Rhubarb Festival 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 e ...

, beginning in 2015, and was a Dora Mavor Moore Award nominee for Outstanding New Play in 2019. It received its most widespread attention in early 2020, when a production by

Theatre Passe Muraille Theatre Passe Muraille is a theatre company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Brief history One of Canada's most influential alternative theatres, Theatre Passe Muraille ("theatre beyond walls") was founded in 1968 by director and playwright Jim Gar ...

saw Bonnell make a public request that the play be reviewed only by

BIPOC The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

theatre critics. Bonnell explained her request by noting that she had previously received racist reviews for her work, including from a critic who asserted that it was fit only to be seen on

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." In ...

s, and stated that "In Toronto, critics are mostly white and male. They come at Indigenous art with a different lens – that often comes back to 'If I don't understand it, that means it's not good or it's not a valid form of theatre'. I don't mind being critiqued. But at least let it come from a place of knowledge, of understanding what you're talking about."

Personal life

Bonnell identifies as queer and

two-spirit Two-spirit (also two spirit, 2S or, occasionally, twospirited) is a modern, , umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) ...

.David Caviglioli
"Une dramaturge canadienne demande aux critiques blancs de ne pas écrire sur sa pièce"
''

L'Obs (), previously known as (1964–2014), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, it is the most prominent French general information magazine in terms of audience and circulation. Its current editor is Cécil ...

'', February 19, 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonnell, Yolanda 21st-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century First Nations writers Canadian stage actresses Canadian women dramatists and playwrights First Nations dramatists and playwrights First Nations actresses First Nations women writers Canadian LGBT dramatists and playwrights LGBT actresses Canadian LGBT actors Queer dramatists and playwrights Ojibwe people Two-spirit people Writers from Ontario Humber College alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Canadian LGBT people