We invite all self-identified Black audience members to join us on Friday, May 26 for Fatuma Adar’s She’s Not Special Black Out Night.

No one will be turned away from attending Black Out Night. Exclusivity is not the intention of the evening. Similar to all theatre events available for general sale, it is available to any member of the public who wishes to purchase a ticket.

As we’ve designed this event as an affinity space, if you don’t identify as Black, please consider why you would like to attend, what you would be adding to the space and how your attendance is supporting Black communities and creators. 

Black Out Night is a performance for Black audiences that invites Black theatre-going communities to experience a show for them, by them.

Black Out Nights are inspired by the Black Out event created for Jeremy O Harris’ Slave Play in 2019, and have happened at theatres in Toronto and beyond over the past couple of years.

Black Out nights are a type of affinity group gathering. An affinity group gathering is an event where people who are from *Equity-owed groups can come together in a safe(r) space. These events can be healing and/or celebratory spaces where people feel more comfortable to be themselves and connect along experiences of shared identity, culture and oppression.

Tarragon Theatre and Nightwood Theatre want to create a Black Out night for She’s Not Special to celebrate Blackness and Black people in all their dimensionality. Unfortunately, theatre spaces haven’t always been spaces where Black people have felt welcome and theatre culture is reflective of deeper oppression that Black people face on a daily basis. 

If you are a frequent or semi-frequent theatre goer, consider the last time you went to a theatre and the audience was majority Indigenous, Black, or racialized people. Black Out nights are a part of a broader strategy to dismantle anti-Black racism in the theatre and create a truly inclusive space.

We’d like to acknowledge that no group is a monolith and there are of course  Black people who will not want to attend a Black Out Night or who disagree with the practise. We can hold many truths at once.

No one will be turned away from attending Black Out Night. Exclusivity is not the intention of the evening and this evening, similar to all theatre events available for general sale, is available to any member of the public who wishes to purchase a ticket.

As we’ve designed this event as an affinity space, if you don’t identify as Black, consider why you would like to attend, what you would be adding to the space and how your attendance is supporting the creation of a safe(r) space for Black people.

We hope to create a safe(r) space for Black people to attend this show. We will be clearly communicating via the ticketing website and via box office phone that this is a Black Out night. 

Tarragon Theatre and Nightwood Theatre in collaboration with the She’s Not Special team are doing a specific outreach strategy to ensure that Black communities are aware of and invited to this Black Out Night.

We also hope to create a celebratory atmosphere, with photo opportunities and some refreshments. Please note that this Black Out Night will be recorded as a comedy album, so come ready to laugh and react with enthusiasm.

Should you have any questions about Tarragon’s Black Out Night please contact Patron Services and/or our Education and Community Engagement Manager at patronservices@tarragontheatre.com and education@tarragontheatre.com, respectively.