Imani Enterprises presents the Toronto premiere of She Said/He Said, created and directed by award-winning artist Anne-Marie Woods (aka Amani). She Said/He Said is a play where spoken word, theatre, conflict and comedy join hands for a tragi-comic and complex look at relationships.
Through monologues, dialogue, poetry and song, She Said/He Said takes a fresh and nuanced look at a relationship between two people searching for love, despite their troubling past experiences. A fusion of personal experiences and fiction, Woods conveys the vulnerability felt in romantic relationships and the importance of communication in this funny, tender and complex look at love in fast-paced, multi-cultural Toronto. The female/male rapport is laid bare in this battle of wits with the multi-talented Woods starring as SHE and Dora Mavor Moore Award winner Matthew G Brown as HE.
SHE has lived in Toronto for five years having grown up in Nova Scotia and navigates online sites and meet-up groups hoping to find someone. HE is of Jamaican heritage and ready for love after a long-term relationship and custody battle for his daughter. Together they fight to make their relationship last in a world where the “rules” are always changing.
She Said/He Said speaks to the conversations that Black men and women are having but not necessarily with each other. The dialogue focuses on SHE and HE over the course of their relationship, and then deftly shifts to include reflective and introspective monologues, songs and poetry that address a wider perspective. The couple struggles to unearth their authentic selves while working through the pain of past failed relationships and the racial stereotypes that they encounter in everyday society.
Songs and lyrics for She Said/He Said are composed by Anne-Marie Woods with musical arrangements by Anne-Marie Woods and Jeremiah Sparks. Stage management is by Sharon DiGenova.
She Said/He Said runs Wednesday, September 14 through Sunday, September 18 at Native Earth’s AKI Studio in Regent Park. Tickets and further information is available at www.imaniartsbiz.com.
