Diggers: play about essential workers kicks off Black History Month in Montreal

Diggers is a Black Theatre Workshop and Prairie Theatre Exchange co-production happening in Montreal.

The play centres around three grave diggers, their dedication to their work and how they are viewed and sometimes excluded by fellow citizens of their village. The play kicks off Black History Month in Montreal.

Chance Jones plays the character of Abdul and is really proud of their production. “It’s really important especially for Black artists to come up and see something that’s being built.”

Dian Marie Bridge is the artistic director for Black Theatre Workshop. “I think right now we’re going through the process of shifting from just seeing Black folks on stage and hearing those stories to actually bringing the most authentic Black self to the stage.”

Marie Bridge goes to explain that “stories up until now have been about explaining who we are and letting other people into our stories and we’re finally getting to see folks talking to and about ourselves in a way that is not about explaining but really just sharing, generally sharing. So we’re starting to see really authentic stories.”

As the world has emerged from the pandemic, Jones shares that “no one really talked about what the grave diggers were doing during that time. Imagine being surrounded by bodies and bodies and bodies. So for me, I feel like what matters is just spreading a light, like showing a light on the similarities or the importance of what was going on and how hard it was for them as well.

“I think this play matters because we’re talking about essential workers, people who are not necessarily thought about during crisis.”

The actor went on to say that Black History Month allows the community to “tell stories that are usually not spoken. We see, we hear about it but we don’t really dive deep into it.”

Marie Bridge recognizes that following the pandemic there is a “collective grieving that we all went through, a collective healing that we all need to go through and an understanding of how community works and how we relate to each other. I think, I hope that people walk away understanding our relationship and our responsibilities to each other.”

Jones comments that we often see a lot of Broadway shows being redone in the theatre world but, “the theatre community is not just the musicals that they’ve seen a thousand times or movies that have been turned from theatre to play, that it’s growing. I think it’s important to come see that growth and support that growth and what better way to do it than in the Segal Centre and this space.”

Marie Bridge shares that, “diversity is about sharing and building a future together and one that’s collectively created.”

Diggers is playing at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts from Feb. 1-17.