Published Work
(J.Gordon Shillingford)
Venus’ Daughter is inspired by the life of Sara “Saartjie” Baartman, who was known as “The Hottentot Venus”. Baartman was a Khoisan woman taken from South Africa to be displayed on London stages from 1810 to 1815; she was then posthumously displayed at the Musee de l’Homme in Paris, France until 2002. The story follows Denise, a young Black woman guided by an ancestor to begin her journey into self-love. Exploring the intersection of myth, fable, and the reality of how women and their bodies are viewed, Venus’ Daughter peels back the layers of pop culture’s obsession with the Black female form and the silence around the infamous figure, making connections through the centuries.
Meghan’s writing was included in the anthology Black Lives, Black Words (Oberon Playwrights Press 2017).
PARKDALE THE MUSICAL
Derailed: The History of Black Railway Porters in Canada
Derailed: The History of Black Railway Porters in Canada
Welcome to 110 Parkdale Ave, the last subsidized low rise building in the neighbourhood. It's special, but you can’t tell that from the outside. The building is far from perfect, but for the tenants who occupy its cracked walls and uneven floors, it’s home. When the tenants are faced with an eviction notice, they (reluctantly) step out of their bubbles to band together as a community in order to save their homes
Parkdale The Musical was commissioned by Musical Stage Co as part of First Drafts in 2022.
Composer: Chris Tsujiuchi
Writer: Meghan Swaby
Director: Julie Tomaino
Music Director: Alexa Belgrave
Copyist: Adam Sakiyama
Dramaturg: Kevin Wong
Sound Designer: Kaitlyn MacKinnon
Producer, Musical Stage Co.: Ray Hogg
Derailed: The History of Black Railway Porters in Canada
Derailed: The History of Black Railway Porters in Canada
Derailed: The History of Black Railway Porters in Canada
Produced by Myseum of Toronto.
Inspired by Cecil Fosters' They Call Me George: The History of Black Railway Porters in Canada.
Derailed was written and conceived by Meghan Swaby, directed by Byron Kent Wong, and filmed at Union Station. Featuring performances by Derick Agyemang, Daniel Jelani Ellis, Laurence Dean Ifill. This digital presentation was produced in partnership with zero11zero, Iron Bay Media, and Union.
WINNER OF THE 2022 HERITAGE TORONTO PUBLIC HISTORY AWARD
IN DEVELOPMENT
SWEAT
An adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston's 1926 short story SWEAT.
BREADFRUIT
Breadfruit is a sprawling and surrealist play that attempts to rupture and repair a Jamaican woman’s lopsided family tree before she dies.
TAR: A Musical
Music, Lyrics, Book by: Jewelle Blackman
Book by: Meghan Swaby
Formerly known as THE TRIALS & TRIUMPHS OF A TAR BABY
This is a story of mental health from a Black woman’s perspective, we meet two women who on the exterior share many similarities but due to their extremely different upbringings have very different views of themselves, their beauty, and their worth. THE TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS OF A TAR BABY is a new Canadian musical by Jewelle Blackman, Inspired by Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye”.
Commissioned with funding by the Aubrey & Marla Dan Fund for New Musicals
