Tawiah Ben M'Carthy is a

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian-born

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

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 p ...

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

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

in Ghana.

Biography

Born in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) 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, , had a population of ...

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

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

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 the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. He studied theatre at

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

, 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 Evalyn Parry is a Canadian performance-maker, theatrical innovator and singer-songwriter. She grew up in Toronto, Ontario in the Kensington Market neighbourhood. Her music combines elements of spoken word and folk. Biography Evalyn Parry is t ...

. He garnered two

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Awards (also known as the Dora Awards or the Doras) are awards presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), honouring theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moor ...

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 The National Arts Centre (NAC) () is a Arts centre, performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one ...

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 ...

's '' The Boys in the Band'', Kwame Stephens' ''Man 2 Man'',

Lanford Wilson Lanford Wilson (April 13, 1937March 24, 2011) was an American playwright. His work, as described by ''The New York Times'', was "earthy, realist, greatly admired ndwidely performed". Fox, Margalit"Lanford Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwrigh ...

's ''

Balm in Gilead ''Balm in Gilead'' is a 1965 American play written by American playwright Lanford Wilson. Dramatic structure Wilson's first full-length play, ''Balm in Gilead'' centers on a café frequented by heroin addicts, prostitutes, and thieves. It featu ...

'',

D. D. Kugler D. or d. may refer to, usually as an abbreviation: * Don (honorific), a form of address in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and their former overseas empires, usually given to nobles or other individuals of high social rank. * Date of death, as an abbreviati ...

and

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 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 Queen Elizabeth I. It follows the King of Navarre and his three companions as ...

'', ''

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

'' and ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'', and in Maxime Desmons' short film ''Au plus proche''. He was part of the 2014–2015 English Theatre Ensemble at the

, and has also worked with Toronto's

Tarragon Theatre The Tarragon Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the main centers for contemporary playwriting in the country.

and Obsidian Theatre companies. In 2016, he was cocreator with Thomas Antony Olajide and Stephen Jackman-Torkoff of ''Black Boys'', a theatrical show about

Black Canadian Black Canadians () are Canadians of full or partial Afro-Caribbean or sub-Saharan African descent. Black Canadian settlement and immigration patterns can be categorized into two distinct groups. The majority of Black Canadians are descendants ...

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 CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

. 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 () 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 diverse artistic communitie ...

, 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 dramatists and playwrights Canadian gay writers Canadian gay actors Canadian LGBTQ 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 LGBTQ people Year of birth missing (living people) Gay dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people