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'Secrets of a Black Boy' analyzes Toronto's Regent Park gentrification

Wedged within Toronto’s overhaul of a lower-income neighbourhood is Secrets of a Black Boy, where song and soliloquy reveal untold stories of young black men.

Following five young black men from Regent Park, the play written by Darren Anthony addresses controversial issues including police brutality, mental health and sexuality, in an investigation of the underlying effects of the city’s gentrification project.

“A lot of our people don’t feel like they have a voice,” Anthony said, “but this play can help us vocalize our issues.”

Secrets of a Black Boy cast performing at Theatre Passe Muraille, Toronto, Ont. Photo from BURUK EARLY.
Secrets of a Black Boy cast performing at Theatre Passe Muraille, Toronto, Ont. Photo from Buruk Early.

After an extensive tour in the U.S., the play returns to Toronto with an adaptation of the original 2009 production to reflect the city’s ongoing gentrification effort in Regent Park.

The project was approved in 2003 as a 20-year plan to introduce mixed-income populations in an attempt to provide a positive socio-economic shift in the neighbourhood.

“There are pros and cons of revitalization,” Anthony said, “especially in the Regent Park area — but it’s still a touchy subject.”

This year, the project has expanded to nine active construction sites, the largest span the project has undertaken since shovels went in the ground in 2005. Demolition and redevelopment has taken place in several stages, often accompanied by subsidized housing tenants ordered to relocate.

Anthony says that Secrets of a Black Boy is meant to be a voice to those who are forced out of their homes to make way for new infrastructure.

“There are a lot of families who are going to be displaced from their communities where they have been for generations,” he said.

“With telling this story, I want to make sure that the people who are originally from this community still have a voice.”

From left, cast list
From left, Mark Sparks, Samson Brown, Troy Crossfield, Al St. Louis, and Julien Hyacithe perform on stage. Photo by Buruk Early.

Anthony, brother of Gemini award-winning playwright Trey Anthony who wrote the production turned television show Da Kink in My Hair, will host 200 boys from the Regent Park area for two complimentary matinees on Nov. 16 and 17.

Following the shows, a Q&A session hosted by former CBC Radio host Shad will discuss the play’s content and themes, connecting the boys to the actors, producers, Anthony, and director Khimali Powell.

It’s an attempt to spark their curiosity for performing arts, Anthony says.

“Some of the content is heavy, and sometimes the issues we bring up are difficult, so it’s a place where we can talk about things that they weren’t always comfortable with.”

The Playing with Crayons production, Secrets of a Black Boy, runs until Nov. 20 at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto.